The US and EU have agreed to try and create an environment of zero tariffs, barriers or subsidies – an undertaking that appears to have diminished the prospect of a prolonged trade war between the two groups. In a surprise announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House, Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said they had reached an understanding on lowering barriers between the two sides, whose annual trade in goods and services is worth more than $1 trillion. “We agreed today, first of all, to work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods,” said Mr Trump, with Mr Juncker by his side. “We will also work to reduce barriers and increase trade in services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical products, as well as soybeans.” He added: “This was a very big day for free and fair trade.” In turn, Mr Juncker said he “had the intention to make a deal today and we made a deal today”. He said while negotiations were ongoing, “we will hold off further tariffs” and reassess existing tariffs on steel and aluminium. Ahead of their appearance at the White House, it was reported that the two men had agreed the EU would increase its imports of soybeans and liquefied natural gas. Markets jumped on the news of the deal. “We had a big day, very big,” Mr Trump said. “We set out to launch a new phase of close friendship between the United States and the European Union, strong trade relationships where both of us will win.” ✕ Jean Claude Juncker: US and EU agree to hold off on further tariffs as part of trade talks The import of soybeans is a boost to American farmers, who have seen prices plummet after China slapped a retaliatory tariff on American goods including soybeans, in the wake of US tariffs on aluminium and steel. Mr Trump had said earlier on Wednesday that the US was seeking a “level playing field” on trade with the EU. “For years, the US has been losing hundreds of billions of dollars in trade with the European Union, and we just want it to be a level playing field for our farmers, for our manufacturers, for everybody and we also want a big beneficiary, frankly, to be the European Union and we think it can be good for everybody and that’s why we are here to discuss,” he said, sitting alongside Mr Juncker in the Oval Office. The agreement is likely to dispel fears of an escalating trade war in the wake of Mr Trump’s decision to place a 25 per cent tariff on steel imports and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imports. The EU subsequently retaliated with tariffs on a number of US goods. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire.<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — The United States and the European Union stepped back from the brink of a trade war on Wednesday, after President Trump said the Europeans agreed to work toward lower tariffs and other trade barriers, and to buy billions of dollars of American soybeans and natural gas. The surprise announcement, made by Mr. Trump and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, defused, for the moment, a trade battle that began with Mr. Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum exports and threatened to escalate to automobiles. “We’re starting the negotiation right now, but we know very much where it’s going,” Mr. Trump said, standing next to Mr. Juncker at a hastily scheduled appearance in the White House Rose Garden. Mr. Juncker said, “I had the intention to make a deal today, and we have made a deal today.” The two sides, he said, had agreed to hold off on further tariffs, and work toward dropping the existing ones on steel and aluminum, while they tried to work out a deal to eliminate tariffs, nontariff barriers and subsidies on industrial goods, excluding autos.<doc-sep>Commerce Department officials are considering a variety of options to address Trump’s insistence that cheap foreign cars are flooding the U.S. market, and some of those measures would stop far short of imposing tariffs, two people briefed on the discussions said. But several of Trump’s advisers think he is expected to follow the approach he took with steel and aluminum imports and choose the most severe restrictions and his favored tool — tariffs across the board, according to the three people briefed on White House discussions.<doc-sep>
Lawmakers who went to the White House for a meeting to discuss trade Wednesday were pulled into the drama of his surprise announcement of an agreement with Europe on tariffs. Senators who spoke with ABC News after the meeting said they had no idea they were about to walk into a Rose Garden announcement on tariffs with the European Union but they welcomed the news, saying they hoped it would lead to additional deals with other countries locked in a trade war with the U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said the last-minute stagecraft, in which President Donald Trump announced an agreement in principle on trade along with European Commission president Jean-Claude Junker, was taking shape even as the Republican House and Senate members were arriving at the White House. “The word that we got from staff was, as it was coming together, [Trump] was saying, ‘OK, what’s the next meeting?’ And they said, ‘Mr. President, the next meeting is with senators and House members,’ and he said, ‘well just bring them on out to hear this because they’ll want to hear it.’” “So we literally stepped outside to the colonnade area to be able to hear it, at the same time a lot of the staff were hearing it because it had just been inked inside,” he added. “We arrived there, and then we became eye candy,” Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts, R-Ks., said of the senators joining the impromptu event. The lawmakers were preparing to warn the president of the consequences of his ongoing aggression on trade. Many of them, from farm states, were also planning to relay messages from their constituents about how they would prefer markets be reopened than rely on additional government aid, as the White House had recently suggested with an offer of $12 billion for farmers affected by tariffs. They still delivered that message but they also asked questions about the White House’s time frame for completing the trade agreement with Europe and about whether this deal will lead to the completion of other major agreements, like a renegotiated North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. “Our sense is the dominoes can’t start falling until the first one starts falling, but there are so many deals in the air right now that if you’re going to redo trade negotiations, you’ve got to have a beginning point,” Lankford said. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said they are still planning to have a reworked NAFTA by early fall, and that Lighthizer pledged to provide the lawmakers with details on several other smaller agreements he said were coming together, including with South Korea and South America. He also said they pledged that both the U.S. and E.U. would appoint representatives to negotiations on the details on the new agreement “right now.” The lawmakers were particularly pleased that the announcement had a focus on soybeans. The U.S. soybean market took a big hit after China, its biggest customer, imposed reciprocal tariffs on American exports. “Soybeans is a big deal. And the European Union is going to start almost immediately to buy a lot of soybeans,” Trump said during the announcement. Still, however, the Republicans in the room brought up that farmers are currently feeling significant pain because of shrinking markets, and that the administration needs to finalize and rework trade agreements with foreign partners as soon as possible. “If you’ve got to sell your product right now and get it resolved, something that’s working towards next year’s trade agreement is not going to help you right now,” Lankford noted.