WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump and European leaders pulled back from the brink of a trade war over autos Wednesday and agreed to open talks to tear down trade barriers between the United States and the European Union.

But the agreement was vague, the coming negotiations with Europe are sure to be contentious and the United States remains embroiled in major trade disputes with China and other trading partners.

In a hastily called Rose Garden appearance with Trump, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the U.S. and the EU have agreed to hold off on new tariffs, suggesting that the United States will suspend plans to start taxing European auto imports — a move that would have marked a major escalation in trade tensions between the allies.

Trump also said the EU had agreed to buy "a lot of soybeans" and increase its imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. And the two agreed to resolve a dispute over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

"It's encouraging that they're talking about freer trade rather than trade barriers and an escalating tariff war," said Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and a former U.S. trade official. But he said reaching a detailed trade agreement with the EU would likely prove difficult.

The tone was friendlier than it has been. During a recent European trip, Trump referred to the EU as a "foe, what they do to us in trade." Juncker, after Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, said in March that "this is basically a stupid process, the fact that we have to do this. But we have to do it. We can also do stupid."

On Wednesday, Trump and Juncker said they have agreed to work toward "zero tariffs" and "zero subsidies" on non-automotive goods.

Trump told reporters it was a "very big day for free and fair trade" and later tweeted a photo of himself and Juncker in an embrace, with Juncker kissing his cheek.

"Obviously the European Union, as represented by @JunckerEU and the United States, as represented by yours truly, love each other!" he wrote.

The president campaigned on a vow to get tough on trading partners he accuses of taking advantage of bad trade deals to run up huge trade surpluses with the U.S.

He has slapped taxes on imported steel and aluminum, saying they pose a threat to U.S. national security. The U.S. and EU are now working to resolve their differences over steel and aluminum — but the tariffs are still in place. And they would continue to hit U.S. trading partners like Canada, Mexico and Japan even if the U.S. and the EU cut a deal.

Whatever progress was achieved Wednesday could provide some relief for U.S. automakers. The escalating trade war and tariffs on steel and aluminum had put pressure on auto company earnings. General Motors had slashed its outlook, and shares of Ford Motor Co. and auto parts companies had fallen.

"Our biggest exposure, our biggest unmitigated exposure, is really steel and aluminum when you look at all of the commodities," GM CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday.

Trump has also imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports — a figure he has threatened to raise to $500 billion — in a dispute over Beijing's aggressive drive to supplant U.S. technological dominance.

China has counterpunched with tariffs on American products, including soybeans and pork — a shot at Trump supporters in the U.S. heartland.

The EU is stepping in to ease some of U.S. farmers' pain. Juncker said the EU "can import more soybeans from the U.S., and it will be done."

Mary Lovely, a Syracuse University economist who studies trade, said, "The Chinese are not going to be buying our soybeans, so almost by musical chairs our soybeans are going to Europe." The trouble is, China last year imported $12.3 billion in U.S. soybeans, the EU just $1.6 billion.

Trump's announcement stunned lawmakers who arrived at the White House ready to unload concerns over the administration's trade policies only to be quickly ushered into Rose Garden for what the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee called "quite a startling" development.

"I think everybody sort of changed what they were going to say," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.

Lawmakers said they still needed to see details of the agreement with the EU as well as progress on the other deals. But they said the breakthrough announcement was a step in the right direction.

Story continues</s>(Reuters) - The Trump administration was set on Tuesday to announce up to $12 billion in aid for U.S. farmers to shield them from the repercussions of trade spats between the United States and China, the European Union and others.

“President Trump has said he has the back of U.S. farmers and today demonstrated this commitment with an aid package to sustain American agriculture cutoff from critical export markets as his administration works to realign U.S. global trade policy.

“U.S. pork, which began the year in expansion mode to capitalize on unprecedented global demand, now faces punitive tariffs on 40 percent of its exports. The restrictions we face in critical markets such as Mexico and China – our top two export markets by volume last year – have placed American pig farmers and their families in dire financial straits. We thank the president for taking immediate action.”

“The big news today for agriculture out of Washington is the plan to use a Great Depression-era policy to use the Commodity Credit Corporation to disperse $12 Billion, with a capital B, in aid to farmers hit by the current trade impasse.... Personally, I’m not sure how all this will play out other than to get the vibe that the Trump administration is in it for the long haul on trying to hammer out these new trade pacts. Mexico and Canada have shown a recent interest to step up talks, but China remains largely at an impasse. Most every grower I know would rather have great trade avenues and receive their revenue from the market, but this shows that Trump and the USDA plans to give his rural base some relief as these negotiations are certainly causing some financial pain to those regions in the last few months.”

“The $12 billion in farm aid announced today will provide a short-term fix, but it’s not a long-term solution. As I’ve said all along, nobody wins in a trade war. We must continue to expand and open markets, protect the Renewable Fuel Standard and allow Iowa products to be sold across the globe. Iowa farmers are the most productive in the world and will always win when they have unrestricted access to markets. I will never stop fighting for Iowa families affected by this trade war.”

“The payments will be helpful to farmers facing overdue loans and angry bankers, but are completely insufficient if they mean that tariffs and the trade war will last for the foreseeable future. They are a very temporary bandage to a self inflicted wound.”

“It’s unclear for now, especially since we don’t know how much of it will be dedicated to cotton. The main focus will be soybeans, which is a much larger market and has a bigger political impact.”

“When politics or market forces beyond farmers’ control put their business at risk, the government can and should consider initiatives to keep family farmers on the farm. As farmers, we want access to markets, which will allow us the ability to compete on a level playing field but support these payments if this stands as our only recourse. We will continue to monitor the details of this proposal as it comes together.”

“The best relief for the president’s trade war would be ending the trade war.”

“Farmers need contracts, not compensation, so they can create stability and plan for the future. This proposed action would only be a short-term attempt at masking the long-term damage caused by tariffs.”

“The $12 billion package of agricultural assistance announced today by the administration will provide a welcome measure of temporary relief to our farmers and ranchers who are experiencing the financial effects of the trade war. This should help many of our farmers and ranchers weather the rough road ahead and assist in their dealings with their financial institutions.

“We are grateful for the administration’s recognition that farmers and ranchers needed positive news now and this will buy us some time. This announcement is substantial, but we cannot overstate the dire consequences that farmers and ranchers are facing in relation to lost export markets. Our emphasis continues to be on trade and restoring markets, and we will continue to push for a swift and sure end to the trade war and the tariffs impacting American agriculture.”

CASEY GUERNSEY, FORMER MISSOURI LAWMAKER AND SPOKESMAN FOR AMERICANS FOR FARMERS & FAMILIES

“Rather than accepting retaliatory tariffs and seeking to offset them with federal assistance, America’s producers believe the administration should look toward solutions that will enable them to export their homegrown goods to critical markets around the globe.”

“My family got into farming to sell beef, not to accept government assistance. While we need to hold our trading partners to account and ensure fair deals are reached, our government must also pursue long-term and sustainable solutions.”

“I don’t know the details but I’m not thrilled. I’ve spent many, many years and many checkoff dollars to build our markets and all of this got thrown in the dumpster in one tweet. We (farmers) don’t want direct payments … we just want open markets. Quite honestly, I’ve been through the Russian (grain) embargo with (President) Carter and other trade wars – nobody wins them. And I have a bad taste in my mouth over this one. I think there are better ways around this. I’m sick and tired of weaponizing food. We fight bad weather, it’s hard to fight tariffs and embargos.”

“Our best course of action is to expand other markets and develop new ones to buy the soybeans we’re not selling to China.

This means finishing the NAFTA negotiations as soon as possible so we can begin talks on new bilateral agreements with other key soybean markets including Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.”

“The American Soybean Association has consistently advised the Administration that the best way to reduce our nation’s trade deficit is by increasing exports, including of agricultural products.”

“Since the Administration has decided to use tariffs to address trade concerns with China, and China has retaliated, farmers don’t have time to wait to see how this trade war turns out.”

SCOTT IRWIN, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

The direct payment program portion will be “the largest and probably the most controversial” part of the aid package.

“We have never compensated farmers directly on such a large scale for retaliatory tariffs.”

“Twelve billion dollars, the vast majority of it sent to farmers mainly in the Midwest in the form of direct payments, is a shock-and-awe response to the hit that farmers have taken in the trade war.”

“The fine print will be important. We know the package won’t make farmers whole.”

Shares of farm equipment companies rose. Deere & Co jumped 2.7 percent, while Caterpillar Inc gained more than 1 percent and AGCO Corp rose 0.5 percent.

Soybean futures <0#S:> rose 1.3 percent to their highest in two weeks.</s>The TAKE with Rick Klein

His brand is disruption. But it's in putting broken pieces back together that President Donald Trump finds fresh challenges.

The dynamic makes itself clear as the administration continues to explain the president's meeting with Vladimir Putin last week, along with the concession that another summit can't happen until 2019.

It's evident in the president's efforts to blunt the impact of the very tariffs he continues to champion. A trade-war pause with Europe allowed Trump to celebrate a "big day" and a "new phase" where what was really agreed to was to work toward an agreement.

Thursday brings another marking point in the Trump administration's difficulties in cleaning up self-created messes.

The court-imposed deadline for reunification of migrant children separated from their families has arrived. There's substantial progress, but also new evidence that the task almost certainly can't be completed – and that there was little front-end consideration to reversing the policy that reached full-blow crisis levels just weeks ago.

"This country was in no way prepared for the industrial scale of family separation," Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat who represents El Paso in the House, said on the "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.

The White House would never admit it, or refer to the events the way they unfolded this week, but twice in the last two days the president has arguably backtracked big time.

First, the rescinded Russian invite. After careful consideration (not to mention serious skepticism from his party and the Russians themselves), President Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton announced yesterday that the next meeting with Russian President Putin won't be this fall after all. They'll wait until the next year instead.

The second meeting was first proposed hastily, catching the director of national intelligence off-guard and confusing lawmakers who were still reeling from the perplexing and controversial Helsinki summit.

What's more, Trump also seemed to do a 180 on trade, stepping back from his threats and tough talk and instead smiling next to the president of the European commission a week after calling the European Union a "foe."

A brewing trade war between the U.S. and EU is on hold -- at least for now -- and just in time for the president's trip to the Midwest where farmers and lawmakers have been increasingly expressing extreme anxiety about possible tariffs.

President Donald Trump is heading to Dubuque, Iowa, where he’ll appear alongside vulnerable Republican Representative Rod Blum (IA-01) for a roundtable discussion.

The visit to one of the top soybean-producing states comes as tensions are high over the growing trade war, and after the Trump administration’s announcement Tuesday that it would make $12 billion in temporary relief aid available to farmers impacted by the trade fight with China and other nations—earning criticism from Blum’s Democratic challenger, State Representative Abby Finkenauer.

"Let’s be clear about what’s happening here. After starting a trade war on Twitter, this administration is dusting off a 1930s, Depression-era program to provide an emergency fix to a problem they caused,” Finkenauer said in a statement. “I hear every day from farmers in this district who just want stability and a thoughtful trade policy, which they’re absolutely not getting from Donald Trump and Rod Blum. The farm economy doesn’t work on a Twitter cycle — Blum should show some backbone for once and put Trump in front of farmers tomorrow to deliver that message."

Blum supports Trump, and said in a tweet he "appreciates" the president’s efforts to help farmers as better trade deals are worked out. But a lot of attention is sure to be paid to any comments from Trump on tariffs in the Corn Belt.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

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The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the key political moments of the day ahead. Please check back tomorrow for the latest.</s>Sign up for one of our email newsletters.

WASHINGTON — Checking out a speedboat, a fighter jet and a giant industrial magnet parked on the White House driveway, President Trump showcased an array of “Made in America” products Monday as his administration pushes back aggressively against critics who say his punishing tariffs on imported goods threaten to harm the U.S. economy.

Trump’s event with a smorgasbord of American goods came at the start of a week in which trade discussions are expected to dominate, including talks with European officials and a trip to Illinois in which the president is planning to visit a community helped along by his steel tariffs.

Trump has vowed to force international trading partners to bend to his will as he seeks to renegotiate a series of trade deals he has long argued hurt American workers. But as he deepens the U.S. involvement in trade fights, it raises questions on whether American consumers will feel the pain of retaliatory tariffs — and whether the president will incur a political price for his nationalistic trade policies in the 2018 midterm elections.

“Our leaders in Washington did nothing, they did nothing. They let our factories leave, they let our people lose their jobs,” Trump said at the White House. “That’s not free trade, that’s fool’s trade, that’s stupid trade and we don’t do that kind of trade anymore.”

Trump noted that he would be meeting Wednesday with European officials, including European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The U.S. and European allies have been at odds over the president’s tariffs on steel imports and are meeting as the dispute threatens to spread to the lucrative automobile business. “Maybe we can work something out,” he said.

On Thursday, the president will visit Granite City, Ill., the home of a U.S. Steel Corp. mill that has reopened after he imposed tariffs on steel imports.

On the South Lawn, the president walked among a number of products manufactured across the nation, including a Lockheed Martin F 35 aircraft from Maryland, a Ford F-150 pickup truck from Michigan, a Newmar recreational vehicle from Indiana and a Ranger speedboat from Arkansas.

Trump has already put taxes on imported steel and aluminum, saying they pose a threat to U.S. national security, an argument that enrages staunch U.S. allies such as the European Union and Canada.

He’s threatening to use the national security justification again to slap tariffs on imported cars, trucks and auto parts, potentially targeting imports that last year totaled $335 billion.

And he’s already imposed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese imports in a separate dispute over Beijing’s high-tech industrial policies. He has threatened to ratchet that up past $500 billion.

“He likes tariffs,” said William Reinsch, a former U.S. trade official under President Bill Clinton now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “His preferred remedy is always tariffs, whether it makes any sense or not.”

“It’s a policy of victimization: ‘Other people have been taking advantage of the United States for years … Now they have to pay,’” Reinsch said, echoing the president’s argument.

Trade analysts say the United States has not pursued such aggressive trade policies in decades.

“I can’t think of another time when you had as many battles and particularly as many battles with no resolution in sight,” said Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon imposed a broad 10 percent import tax for four months to pressure Japan and European countries to drive up the value of their currencies. The idea: provide relief to American exporters, who were being put at a price disadvantage by a strong dollar.

In 1930, the U.S. raised tariffs dramatically to protect American industry, encouraging other countries to do the same in a global trade war that made the Great Depression worse.

Economists said the tariffs that Trump has imposed so far — and the resulting retaliation — are unlikely to do much economic damage. But things could escalate rapidly.

“If you look at what’s teed up, particularly with China and with the auto tariffs, pretty soon you are talking about some pretty large numbers. Those will do some real damage,” Alden said.

Oxford Economics has calculated that a full-blown U.S.-China trade war — in which each country taxes all the other’s imports — would shave 1 percent off the U.S. economy and wipe out 700,000 jobs in the United States by 2020.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics has estimated that a trade war over autos could cost up to 1.2 million American jobs.

Critics said Trump’s aggressive approach makes it tough for other countries to offer concessions, lest they be seen by their own people as caving in to bullying.

“The Trump administration has not left an easy path to walk away from the fights they’ve created,” Alden said.</s>U.S. President Donald Trump suddenly seems to be a big fan of dropping all “tariffs, barriers and subsidies” with at least one trading partner, mere hours after he tweeted “tariffs are the greatest.”

On Tuesday night, Trump issued a tweet proposing that both the U.S. and the European Union drop all three as European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker prepares to visit Washington for trade talks on Wednesday.

“That would finally be called free market and fair trade!” Trump tweeted.

“Hope they do it, we are ready — but they won’t!”

READ MORE: Trump tweets ‘Tariffs are the greatest!’ as $12B in emergency aid announced for U.S. farmers

The tweet came on the same day that Trump issued this one, amid news that his administration was starting a $12 billion plan to help U.S. farmers amid trade disputes.

Trump’s trade wars have seen the U.S. hit Canada, the European Union and Mexico with tariffs on aluminum and steel — a move that has seen the Great White North fire back with retaliatory tariffs on $16.6-billion of U.S. steel, aluminium and consumer products.

The U.S. has also imposed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese products and threatened tariffs on $500 billion more in goods. China, meanwhile, retaliated with duties on pork and soybeans.

EU officials have managed expectations about the progress that Juncker is likely to make with Trump.

— With files from The Associated Press</s>
• President Donald Trump is preparing to provide billions in emergency aid for farmers who are caught up in the middle of his administration’s trade battles.
• The White House is expected to make the announcement of the $12 billion plan on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump is preparing to provide billions in emergency aid for farmers caught in the crosshairs of his administration’s various burgeoning trade battles.

The White House is expected to make the announcement of the $12 billion plan on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post.

Farmers have said retaliatory moves by other countries in response to the president’s trade policies could cost them billions of dollars. It has led to fear among Republicans of economic and political blowback to Trump’s policies, according to the report, as the party looks to avoid significant losses in the midterm elections this November.

As a result, Republicans and business groups have complained to Trump that his trade policies are hurting the economy.

Tuesday’s expected announcement of emergency aid to farmers through the Department of Agriculture comes amid a search to find a way to alleviate the concerns of farmers and industry groups without sacrificing Trump’s protectionist policies.

The emergency aid will be provided to farmers through direct assistance, a government food purchase and distribution program, and a trade promotion program. It would be done in part through a division of the Agricultural Department that was created to provide financial support for farmers, according to the Post.

However, the White House’s plan is not expected to be a long-term solution if the trade battles continue.

Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to defend his policies.

“Countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate,” Trump tweeted. “This should have taken place many years ago but, as the saying goes, better late than never!”

“Tariffs are the greatest!” Trump continued on Tuesday. “Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that – and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great!”</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and European leaders pulled back from the brink of a trade war over autos Wednesday and agreed to open talks to tear down trade barriers between the United States and the European Union.

But the agreement was vague, the coming negotiations with Europe are sure to be contentious and the United States remains embroiled in major trade disputes with China and other trading partners.

In a hastily called Rose Garden appearance with Trump, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the U.S. and the EU have agreed to hold off on new tariffs, suggesting that the United States will suspend plans to start taxing European auto imports — a move that would have marked a major escalation in trade tensions between the allies.

Trump also said the EU had agreed to buy “a lot of soybeans” and increase its imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. And the two agreed to resolve a dispute over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

“It’s encouraging that they’re talking about freer trade rather than trade barriers and an escalating tariff war,” said Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and a former U.S. trade official. But he said reaching a detailed trade agreement with the EU would likely prove difficult.

President Donald Trump says the US and the EU have agreed to work toward “zero tariffs” and “zero subsidies” on non-automobile goods. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says he has made a deal with Trump to try to ease trade tensions. (July 25)

The tone was friendlier than it has been. During a recent European trip, Trump referred to the EU as a “foe, what they do to us in trade.” Juncker, after Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, said in March that “this is basically a stupid process, the fact that we have to do this. But we have to do it. We can also do stupid.”

On Wednesday, Trump and Juncker said they have agreed to work toward “zero tariffs” and “zero subsidies” on non-automotive goods.

Trump told reporters it was a “very big day for free and fair trade” and later tweeted a photo of himself and Juncker in an embrace, with Juncker kissing his cheek.

“Obviously the European Union, as represented by @JunckerEU and the United States, as represented by yours truly, love each other!” he wrote.

The president campaigned on a vow to get tough on trading partners he accuses of taking advantage of bad trade deals to run up huge trade surpluses with the U.S.

He has slapped taxes on imported steel and aluminum, saying they pose a threat to U.S. national security. The U.S. and EU are now working to resolve their differences over steel and aluminum — but the tariffs are still in place. And they would continue to hit U.S. trading partners like Canada, Mexico and Japan even if the U.S. and the EU cut a deal.

Whatever progress was achieved Wednesday could provide some relief for U.S. automakers. The escalating trade war and tariffs on steel and aluminum had put pressure on auto company earnings. General Motors had slashed its outlook, and shares of Ford Motor Co. and auto parts companies had fallen.

“Our biggest exposure, our biggest unmitigated exposure, is really steel and aluminum when you look at all of the commodities,” GM CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday.

Trump has also imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports — a figure he has threatened to raise to $500 billion — in a dispute over Beijing’s aggressive drive to supplant U.S. technological dominance.

China has counterpunched with tariffs on American products, including soybeans and pork — a shot at Trump supporters in the U.S. heartland.

The EU is stepping in to ease some of U.S. farmers’ pain. Juncker said the EU “can import more soybeans from the U.S., and it will be done.”

Mary Lovely, a Syracuse University economist who studies trade, said, “The Chinese are not going to be buying our soybeans, so almost by musical chairs our soybeans are going to Europe.” The trouble is, China last year imported $12.3 billion in U.S. soybeans, the EU just $1.6 billion.

Trump’s announcement stunned lawmakers who arrived at the White House ready to unload concerns over the administration’s trade policies only to be quickly ushered into Rose Garden for what the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee called “quite a startling” development.

“I think everybody sort of changed what they were going to say,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.

Lawmakers said they still needed to see details of the agreement with the EU as well as progress on the other deals. But they said the breakthrough announcement was a step in the right direction.

“We have more confidence in him now than we did before,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

The White House announcement came as the Trump administration announced a final rule aimed at speeding up approval of applications for small-scale exports of liquefied natural gas. The Trump administration has made LNG exports a priority, arguing that they help the economy and enhance geopolitical stability in countries that purchase U.S. gas.

Juncker said the two sides also agreed to work together to reform the World Trade Organization, which Trump has vehemently criticized as being unfair to the U.S.

The biggest news from the Trump-Juncker meeting is that it appears to have delayed an impending trade war over autos. Trump had threatened to tax imported cars, trucks and auto parts, potentially targeting imports that last year totaled $335 billion.

The European Union had warned that it would retaliate with tariffs on products worth $20 billion if Trump put duties on cars and auto parts from Europe.

But the auto trade war with Europe is on hold while the U.S. and EU engage in further trade talks. Daniel Ikenson, director of trade studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, warned that the fight could flare up again if Trump grows impatient with Europe.

“Auto tariffs are looming unless the EU buys more U.S. stuff and does other things Trump demands,” he said.

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking, Christopher Rugaber, Darlene Superville, Matthew Daly and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this story.

On Twitter, follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC and Paul Wiseman at https://twitter.com/PaulWisemanAP</s>President Donald Trump and European leaders pulled back from the brink of a trade war over autos Wednesday and agreed to open talks to tear down trade barriers between the United States and the European Union.

But the agreement was vague, the coming negotiations with Europe are sure to be contentious and the United States remains embroiled in major trade disputes with China and other trading partners.

In a hastily called Rose Garden appearance with Trump, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the U.S. and the EU have agreed to hold off on new tariffs, suggesting that the United States will suspend plans to start taxing European auto imports — a move that would have marked a major escalation in trade tensions between the allies.

Trump also said the EU had agreed to buy "a lot of soybeans" and increase its imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. And the two agreed to resolve an ongoing dispute over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

"It's encouraging that they're talking about freer trade rather than trade barriers and an escalating tariff war," said Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and a former U.S. trade official. But he said reaching a detailed trade agreement with the EU would likely prove difficult.

At least the tone was friendlier than it has been. During a recent European trip, Trump referred to the EU as a "foe, what they do to us in trade." Juncker, after Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, said in March that "this is basically a stupid process, the fact that we have to do this. But we have to do it. We can also do stupid."

On Wednesday, Trump and Juncker said they have agreed to work toward "zero tariffs" and "zero subsidies" on non-automotive goods.

Trump told reporters it was a "very big day for free and fair trade."

The president campaigned on a vow to get tough on trading partners he accuses of taking advantage of bad trade deals to run up huge trade surpluses with the United States.

He has slapped taxes on imported steel and aluminum, saying they pose a threat to U.S. national security. The U.S. and EU are now working to resolve their differences over steel and aluminum — but the tariffs are still in place. And they would continue to hit U.S. trading partners like Canada, Mexico and Japan even if the U.S. and the EU cut a deal.

Whatever progress was achieved Wednesday could provide some relief for U.S. automakers. The escalating trade war and tariffs on steel and aluminum had put pressure on auto company earnings. General Motors had slashed its outlook, and shares of Ford Motor Co. and auto parts companies had fallen.

"Our biggest exposure, our biggest unmitigated exposure, is really steel and aluminum when you look at all of the commodities," GM CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday. "And frankly, the biggest driver of that is steel."

Trump has also imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports — a figure he has threatened to raise to $500 billion — in a dispute over Beijing's aggressive drive to supplant U.S. technological dominance.

China has counterpunched with tariffs on American products, including soybeans and pork — a shot at Trump supporters in the U.S. heartland.

The EU is stepping in to ease some of U.S. farmers' pain. Juncker said the EU "can import more soybeans from the U.S., and it will be done."

Mary Lovely, a Syracuse University economist who studies trade, said, "The Chinese are not going to be buying our soybeans, so almost by musical chairs our soybeans are going to Europe." The trouble is, China last year imported $12.3 billion in U.S. soybeans, the EU just $1.6 billion.

Trump's progress with EU leaders was greeted by farm-state lawmakers who have been concerned about the impact of retaliatory tariffs on soybeans and other crops.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said what farmers in his home state need "and this might be helpful in this direction— is they got to know that this thing isn't going to go on forever."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted that the agreement "not to impose additional tariffs during negotiations is very smart and the best way to achieve a win-win solution."

He added: "Now is the time for EU and US - both victims to unfair China trade practices - to unite against China."

The White House announcement came as the Trump administration announced a final rule aimed at speeding up approval of applications for small-scale exports of liquefied natural gas. The Trump administration has made LNG exports a priority, arguing that they help the economy and enhance geopolitical stability in countries that purchase U.S. gas.

Juncker said the two sides also agreed to work together to reform the World Trade Organization, which Trump has vehemently criticized as being unfair to the U.S.

The biggest news from the Trump-Juncker meeting is that it appears to have delayed an impending trade war over autos. Trump has threatened to tax imported cars, trucks and auto parts, potentially targeting imports that last year totaled $335 billion.

The European Union had warned that it would retaliate with tariffs on products worth $20 billion if Trump puts duties on cars and auto parts from Europe.

But the auto trade war with Europe is on hold while the U.S. and EU engage in further trade talks. Daniel Ikenson, director of trade studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, warned that the fight over autos could quickly flare up again if Trump grows impatient with Europe.

"Auto tariffs are looming unless the EU buys more U.S. stuff and does other things Trump demands," he said.

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Christopher Rugaber, Darlene Superville, Matthew Daly and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this story.

On Twitter, follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC and Paul Wiseman at https://twitter.com/PaulWisemanAP</s>In a hastily called Rose Garden appearance with President Donald Trump, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the U.S. and the EU agreed to hold off on new tariffs.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and European leaders pulled back from the brink of a trade war over autos Wednesday and agreed to open talks to resolve a dispute over steel and to tear down trade barriers between the United States and the European Union.

In a hastily called Rose Garden appearance with Trump, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the U.S. and the EU agreed to hold off on new tariffs, suggesting that the United States will suspend plans to start taxing European auto imports — a move that would have marked a major escalation in trade tensions between the allies.

The tone between Trump and Juncker was friendly, a marked turnabout from the harsh rhetoric the EU and U.S. have exchanged in recent weeks.

Trump also said the EU had agreed to buy "a lot of soybeans" and increase its imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S.

"It's encouraging that they're talking about freer trade rather than trade barriers and an escalating tariff war," said Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and a former U.S. trade official. But he said reaching a detailed trade agreement with the EU would probably prove very difficult.

During a recent European trip, Trump referred to the EU as a "foe, what they do to us in trade." Juncker, after Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, said in March that "this is basically a stupid process, the fact that we have to do this. But we have to do it. We can also do stupid."

On Wednesday, the tone was conciliatory. Trump and Juncker said they have agreed to work toward "zero tariffs" and "zero subsidies" on non-automotive goods.

Trump told reporters it was a "very big day for free and fair trade" and vowed to "resolve the steel and aluminum tariff issues and we will resolve retaliatory tariffs. We have some tariffs that are retaliatory and that will get resolved as part of what we're doing."

"We're starting the negotiation right now, but we know very much where it's going," Trump said after talks with European counterparts.

Juncker said he had an "intention to make a deal today and we made a deal today. We have identified a number of areas on which to work together, work towards zero tariffs on industrial goods. That was my main intention, for those to come down to zero tariffs on industrial goods."

As U.S. soybean farmers have struggled against retaliatory tariffs, Juncker said the EU "can import more soybeans from the U.S. and it will be done." He said the two sides also agreed to work together to reform the World Trade Organization, which Trump has vehemently criticized as being unfair to the U.S.

Earlier in the Oval Office, Juncker told Trump that the two trading partners were "allies, not enemies," and said they needed to work together to address recent frictions involving Trump's threats to impose tariffs on auto imports and EU plans to retaliate.

Trump had placed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, saying they pose a threat to U.S. national security, an argument that the EU and Canada reject. He had also threatened to slap tariffs on imported cars, trucks and auto parts, potentially targeting imports that last year totaled $335 billion.

The European Union had warned that it would retaliate with tariffs on products worth $20 billion if Trump puts duties on cars and auto parts from Europe.

Trump's progress with EU leaders was greeted by farm-state lawmakers who have been concerned about the impact of retaliatory tariffs on soybeans and other crops.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said what farmers in his home state need "and this might be helpful in this direction— is they got to know that this thing isn't going to go on forever."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted that the agreement "not to impose additional tariffs during negotiations is very smart and the best way to achieve a win-win solution."

He added: "Now is the time for EU and US - both victims to unfair China trade practices - to unite against China."</s>Since Donald Trump took off on his tariff bender, slapping levies on countries around the world just to prove that America isn’t gonna be pushed around anymore, things have gone extremely poorly . . . for America. Soybean farmers have taken a 20 percent hit to their income thanks to China targeting them in counterattacks; Harley-Davidson has cut its profit-margin forecast as a result of the European Union’s retaliatory measures on its motorcycles; companies caught up in the blowback from steel tariffs are laying off workers left and right and could go out of business by Labor Day; investors are freaking out; Fed Chair Jerome Powell has warned that trade wars on multiple fronts could damage the economy; and Beijing has signaled it’s prepared to fight to the death, which it might have to after President Very Stable Genius threatened to slap tariffs on every single one of its imports. And yet, as usual, all this appears to be lost on Trump.

On Tuesday morning, he tweeted that tariffs are “the greatest” and a “simple” economic measure: “Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. . . . Remember, we are the ‘piggy bank’ that’s being robbed.” Not only is he choosing to ignore the monumental costs of his trade wars, but he seems blissfully unaware of just who is paying for them—in an interview with CNBC last week, he told Joe Kernen that he has the flexibility to go tit-for-tat with China and other countries because the only thing at risk is stock-market gains, and the post-election rally allows him to fire away to his heart’s content. “This is the time,” Trump said. “You know the expression ‘we’re playing with the bank’s money.’” (Setting aside the fact that U.S. companies, consumers, and workers have so far borne the brunt of the tariffs, it’s not even clear that the president is aware that the market’s gains have slowed this year in part as a direct result of his “trade policies.”)

That the president doesn’t understand who is being punished for his asinine policies is worrisome not just from the perspective of Jesus Christ will someone get this guy in for a brain scan, but because as his offense ramps up, things will only get worse. As Trump considers cranking up the crazy and slapping a 25 percent tariff on foreign cars—a move that U.S. automakers, parts suppliers, and dealers have warned would be devastating—Canada has suggested it’ll have no choice but to hit back just as hard. “I say that with a heavy heart because it’s of no benefit to anybody, but how do you get a bully to back off when their foot is on your neck? Do you plead with them or do you bite the foot?” Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, told Bloomberg. “Not responding is not an option.” (Memo to Trump: when the good-natured folks up in Canada are talking about biting your foot off, you might want to rethink your strategy.)

Perhaps as a sign that someone in the White House knows it’s not just the stock market that’s taking a hit, on Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that the administration is planning “to extend about $12 billion in emergency aid to farmers caught in President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war, according to two people briefed on the matter.” That’ll likely provide some much-needed short-term relief, but it also suggests the president has no plan to back down anytime soon.
U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders agree to halt their trade war over vehicles and say they will open talks on removing trade barriers between the United States and the European Union.