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Bernd Lange, who heads the trade committee in the European parliament spoke with the Financial Times and said the bloc was willing to lower its 10% import tax on cars “closer” to the 2.5% charged by the US in an effort to avoid a trade war.
“We can try to have a deal before escalating costs and tariffs,” Lange said. The bloc would offer to buy more liquefied natural gas and military equipment from the US, “plus also look to lower tariffs for cars”, he told the FT.
Notably, the reduced tariffs would also apply to Chinese auto imports.
Lange also highlighted the potential of dealmaking by saying that if Trump doesn’t take the deal, Europe could hit US tech companies with higher taxes or suspend intellectual property protections.