Germany is urging the Biden administration to unilaterally undo punitive tariffs imposed byformer president Donald Trump since 2018 as a precondition towards repairing damaged trans-Atlantic ties and setting into motion the process leading to a new trade agreement.
Peter Beyer, coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the Federal Foreign Office under Chancellor Angela Merkel, said this move on the part of the U.S. will help speed along the process of forging stronger ties. He also sees this concession as necessary to an EU-U.S. trade deal.
"The first step could be an agreement which would see the EU and U.S. abolish all tariffs on industrial goods," said Beyer. "Progress could be made quickly here. Controversial areas such as agriculture must then be discussed in a second step."
Beyer said the Biden administration should withdraw punitive tariffs unilaterally imposed by Trump on European imports of aluminum and steel as a first step towards rebuilding trust. Trump on May 31, 2018 imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from the EU, Canada and Mexico on flimsy "national security grounds" and drew immediate retaliation from these countries.
The new levies were 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum and took effect on the same day, triggering a major escalation of the trade war between the U.S. and its top trading partners.
The EU hit back by imposing duties "on a number of imports from the United States," referring to a 10-page list of targets for retaliation it published in March 2018. These targets include bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
"This is protectionism, pure and simple," said Jean-Claude Juncker, former president of the European Commission at the time.
Beyer also said talks on a new trade deal should start without preconditions from either side. Both the U.S. and the EU must also abandon the belief there can only be an agreement "once we have agreed on all areas. Instead, we should go step by step."
Beyer said Germany and the U.S. must "think big" and aim for an ambitious agenda based on common values and focused on joint interests.
"It should include a common roadmap for a WTO (World Trade Organization) reform that, among other things, finally gets China to play by international trade rules, Violations of these rules must be sanctioned," said Beyer.
