President Trump, in a meeting with EU leaders on Thursday, complained about Germany’s “bad, very bad” trade surplus with the United States, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.
May 25th, 2017 [Inside Trade]
According to an informal translation of the news report, Trump made clear the reduction of the U.S. trade deficit is an “absolute priority” for him, and participants told the newspaper after that the two sides did not come any closer to agreement on economic and trade issues.
A joint action plan on trade between the U.S. administration and the EU, the paper said, was seen “as a small accomplishment.” The action plan — proposed by Juncker — was agreed to by Trump, the report said, and should entail “potential areas of cooperation.”
A revival of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is not on the horizon, the paper added, saying Juncker sees “too many divergences.”
Trump accused the EU once again of gaining trade surpluses with the U.S. by applying “unfair measures.”
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