EU’s Oettinger: EU could try to seek a wide reduction of tariffs in negotiations with US

In an interview with a German radio – Deutschland funk on Wednesday, the European Union’s (EU) Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said that he hopes the EU could try to seek a wide reduction of tariffs in negotiations with the US this year.

Key Quotes:

“In this way, we want to avoid a further escalation of the trade conflict, and to avoid a trade war.” 

“One could try to untangle the existing tariffs and then ... reduce tariffs for various goods and services.”

It’s worth noting that the European Commission President Juncker visits Washington today for trade talks after the US imposed metals tariffs on the EU.