The EU can solve the tariff showdown ‘very quickly’ by spending an extra $56 billion on American products

EU nations could commit to spending an additional $ 56 billion on American products to end the price confrontation with US President Donald Trump, said EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic, in an interview with the Financial time Posted Thursday.

Sefcovic, who has developed negotiations with the American administration, said that “certain progress” had been made, but the European Union would not accept the 10% tariff of the United States on EU products.

Sefcovic said that once the American services taken into account, the American trade deficit with the 27 EU countries is around 50 billion euros ($ 56 billion) per year.

“If what we consider as a problem in the deficit is 50 billion euros, I believe that we can really … solve this problem very quickly thanks to LIG (liquefied natural gas) purchases, thanks to certain agricultural products such as soybeans or other areas,” said the FT commissioner.

Trump said the deficit was several hundred billion dollars a year and imposed a 25% tariff on EU cars, aluminum and steel. Other goods have a price of 10%.

The American president initially imposed a tariff of 20% on EU products, but this has been suspended until July and negotiators are now seeking to avoid a complete trade war on prices if this level comes into force.

Sefcovic said that even a basic tariff of 10% would be a “very high” level that the EU could not accept.

The Commissioner said that if the two parties had a better understanding of the other's position, it would always be “very difficult” to conclude an agreement “clearly good and acceptable for our Member States and our European Parliament”.

This story was initially presented on Fortune.com