Juncker: EU, US to meet next month over trade tensions

By Ata Ufuk Seker

BRUSSELS (AA) – European Union and U.S. officials will meet in Washington next month to discuss trade tensions, said EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday.

At a news briefing at the closing of a European Council meeting, Juncker said that President Donald Trump had invited him to visit in late July to discuss the tensions.

In March, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported iron and steel, and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imported from the EU, Canada, and Mexico, citing national security interests.

Trump's moves to start trade wars, which he predicted would be "easy to win," have drawn condemnation and retaliatory tariffs worldwide.

The EU leaders meeting also addressed the issues of migration and Brexit.

- Migration

Donald Tusk, the EU council president, stressed that resolving disagreements over the migration issue needed great efforts.

“As for the text of our compromise, the leaders accepted three proposals I put forward," he said, specifying "disembarkation platforms outside Europe, a dedicated budgetary tool in the next MFF [multiannual financial framework] to combat illegal migration, as well as boosting EU support for the Libyan Coast Guard."

- Brexit

On the Brexit talks with the U.K., Tusk said a great deal of work remains.

“The EU27 has taken note of what has been achieved so far. However, there is a great deal of work ahead, and the most difficult tasks are still unresolved. If we want to reach a deal in October, we need quick progress. This is the last call to lay the cards on the table,” he stressed.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday that the Brexit talks are going well and both the U.K. and the EU want to work towards a deal “at a faster pace.”