EU Leaders Sound Hopeful on Trump Commerce Negotiations

European leaders struck a barely extra hopeful tone on commerce negotiations on Friday, suggesting that talks with the White Home continued at the same time as Europe makes preparations to hit again ought to they fail.

“I believe I had good conversations with President Trump, on the cellphone and on the funeral of the pope,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Fee, mentioned at a information convention in Brussels. “However for me, it’s vital that if I’m going to the White Home, I need to have a package deal that we will focus on.”

The European Fee is the chief arm of the 27-nation European Union, and it takes duty on commerce coverage. Officers have been struggling for months to make progress with their American counterparts, and Ms. von der Leyen till lately had little interplay with President Trump. However the two spoke on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome in late April, and Mr. Trump yesterday referred to as Ms. von der Leyen “so implausible.”

Requested about that remark, Ms. von der Leyen laughed and mentioned, “I like compliments, on the whole.” She added that she needed to make progress in negotiations — and implied that work on that was underway.

“I need to have an answer that we each can agree on,” she added. “That’s the work we’re doing proper now.”

Friedrich Merz, the brand new German chancellor, was talking alongside Ms. von der Leyen on the information convention. He echoed her stance that the European Union — by which Germany is the biggest financial system — ought to preserve participating with its American counterparts towards a deal.

“We have to discover negotiated options with the U.S. authorities,” Mr. Merz mentioned. “After I do go to Washington, it’s not deliberate but, however we shall be planning it very shortly, and I’ll undoubtedly coordinate with the European Fee to ensure that all of us sing from the identical hymn sheet.”

Mr. Merz mentioned that it was vital for Europe to have a “widespread place” on commerce, and that Germany “totally helps” the selections that Brussels has taken up to now.

The European Union introduced simply on Thursday that it was getting ready a program of retaliation ought to commerce talks fail. It introduced plans for each a World Commerce Group dispute and counter-tariffs that would hit some 95 billion euros ($107 billion) of products, from beef to Boeing airplane components.

However officers stay clear that they would like to make a deal — and the prospect of 1 appears to be growing, if nonetheless removed from assured.