BRUSSELS, Nov 24 (KUNA) -- The United States urged on Monday the European Union to reconsider its approach to digital regulation if it wants to reach an agreement to lower US tariffs on European steel exports.
The call came after a meeting between US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer with the trade ministers of the EU's 27 member states in Brussels, in the first such gathering since both sides agreed last July on a 15 percent US levy on most EU exports.
Lutnick told reporters after the meeting that the EU should "deeply consider trying to analyse their digital rules, try to come away with a balance. If they can come up with that balanced approach, which I think they can, then we will together with them handle the steel and aluminium issues".
He added that such an approach could open the door to "a trillion dollars of investment, and that would add a point and a half to European GDP".
For his part, EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic declined to comment on whether the EU's digital rules were a red line, but insisted that "the EU's rules are not discriminatory and are not aimed at American companies." The EU is seeking a reduction of the current 50-percent US duties on steel and aluminium, while Washington is tying progress on that file to the rollback of environmental and digital regulations in Brussels that it says harm major US firms.
In parallel discussions, European and American officials also addressed shared challenges, including access to rare earths and microchips, which are essential to the technology sector. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said the talks also covered "overcapacity and China's role in the global economy," stressing the need to "join forces" to confront these issues. (end) arn.ibi