U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that President Trump is willing to reopen negotiations with the European Union over the stalled Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement, which stalled following Trump’s election.
“He terminated the Trans-Pacific deal; he didn’t terminate TTIP,” Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday. “That was meant quite deliberately and quite overtly as a message that we’re open to discussion with the European Commission.”
The U.S. has given the EU a May 1 deadline to come up with concessions that meet U.S economic and security needs, or else it will impose steel and aluminum tariffs on the 28-nation bloc. However, World Trade Organization rules require that any tariff adjustments be done within the context of a comprehensive free-trade accord.
Ross told EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom that he would seek a formal negotiating mandate from the U.S. Congress that would allow him to begin negotiations on a broader deal. The European Commission, which briefed ambassadors this week on the state of talks with the U.S. said it does not think a comprehensive deal is possible by the May 1 deadline.
