U.S., EU eye global coalition to fix steel, aluminum markets

The U.S. and the European Union clinched a tariff-busting trade accord over the weekend that they’ll try to leverage into a broader global arrangement that would penalize countries that don’t meet low-carbon targets for steel and aluminum exports.

The U.S. and the European Union clinched a tariff-busting trade accord over the weekend that they’ll try to leverage into a broader global arrangement that would penalize countries that don’t meet low-carbon targets for steel and aluminum exports.

President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the agreement on Sunday in Rome on the sidelines of a meeting of leaders from the Group of 20 countries.

“The United States and the European Union have reached a major breakthrough,” Biden said, adding that they’re “ushering in a new era of transatlantic cooperation.”

Von der Leyen said the deal would alleviate significant elements of the irritants to the U.S.-EU trade relationship and comes amid renewed “trust and communication” since Biden took office.

“It is yet another key initiative for our renewed forward-looking, transatlantic agenda with the United States,” she said.

The U.S. agreed to remove the duties it placed on EU steel and aluminum exports up to a certain threshold, with anything beyond that still subject to the additional tariffs. The EU will also suspend its retaliatory duties, effectively ending punitive measures on as much as $10 billion of each other’s goods.