EU Trade Commissioner Says EU Will Not Accept Auto Quotas
Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Union's trade commissioner, told an audience at the Atlantic Council Jan. 10 that if U.S. tariffs on imported autos were to be implemented, the EU would not accept a quota system as Canada and Mexico have done. Malmstrom has been in Washington meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week on both World Trade Organization reform and the bilateral trade relationship.
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Malmstrom, though she spoke of progress on regulatory cooperation and buying liquefied natural gas and soybeans, emphasized that the EU countries have not even seen a proposal yet on how to pursue a free trade agreement that would lower tariffs. She avoided answering a question on when the proposal on the talks would be ready. But she said Europe is not interested in including agriculture in any agreement.
Asked if raising Europe's de minimis level would be a quick way to facilitate more trade, Malmstrom said it has not been discussed. She said there are "lots of low-hanging fruits," and said that during the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks, there was a lot of work done that can be used now. The only specifics she gave were harmonizing pharmaceutical and medical device inspections. "I feel that USTR is very committed to this," she said. "It doesn't have to be one final package where we solve all the problems."
Malmstrom also addressed Brexit, which could disrupt trade between continental Europe and Great Britain if there is a hard exit. "The challenges of Brexit are real," she said, adding that the 27 countries in the EU are united "in trying to find a solution." The commissioner defended the usefulness of the WTO and defended globalization as a force for good. "We have moved from a period of hopeful optimism about the benefit of international economic cooperation," she said. "We need to save [the WTO]. It's quite urgent, actually. We need to save the appellate body. We have made concrete proposals to improve it. We also need to update the rulebook. We need to find a way where we can resolve trade tensions at an early stage."
Some of the ways the rulebook needs to change are to address China and other non-market economies that are not competing on a level playing field, she said. Even though China has not lived up to its commitments since joining the WTO, Malmstrom said, she still believes that letting that country join was right. "If they want to be treated like a market economy -- they're not, but they say they are -- they have to start behaving like a market economy," she said. "I have no illusions this is going to be a walk in the park."