The EU can always face Trump to beat the prices, explains the Cychy – Politico

At the same time, according to Lipavský, buy more American fossil gas – which, according to Trump, is essential to tackle commercial imbalance – is “a good proposal, and I support it”.

The European Commission has organized a series of conferences with American counterparts, and despite not accepting an agreement so far, “we should continue this,” he added.

EU’s head of commerce, Maroš Šefčovič, and other senior officials have visited Washington in recent weeks to try to conclude an agreement that would spare him in the list of widely criticized prices of Trump, released on Wednesday. Brussels even proposed to actively invest in infrastructures of American fossil fuels in the context of efforts to stimulate imports – but diplomats told Politico that these plans had been confronted with a lack of interest from the American administration.

Lipavský said he was still convinced that Šefčovič “was doing a good job”, despite these challenges. “He has these figures cracked in the right direction, so that makes me a lot of confidence that he is able to negotiate him,” he said.

“We should show our strength and dedication to negotiations with the American side,” he said. “The best scenario is to avoid it – to explain to the American side that it is better to have a strong trade between us and America. If that is not heard, then we must act.”

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, undertook to retaliate on Trump’s prices with her own measures, expected from next week.