US-European trade talks stalled over 'unsafe' American food
AFP•June 17, 2020
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, pictured testifying on Capitol Hill on June 17, 2020, dismissed concerns over food standards as "thinly veiled protectionism" (AFP Photo/POOL)More
Washington (AFP) - US trade talks with the European Union and Britain have stalled in part due to suspicions of poor American food standards, Washington's chief negotiator said Wednesday.
"I think there's a desire to make things work through, but for whatever reason we haven't made much headway," US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
"There is a sense in Europe, which I think is shared -- hopefully not as deeply with (Britain) as it is with Europe -- that American food is unsafe."
He dismissed the worries however as "thinly veiled protectionism."
These are "very difficult issues with Europe and they will be very difficult issues with the United Kingdom. Also I'm hopeful ... that we'll work our way through them."
Lighthizer claimed that the United States "has the best agriculture in the world" as well as "the safest, highest standards.
"I think we shouldn't confuse science with consumer preference," he said.
He said agriculture had been at the center of all recent trade negotiations and was "a huge, huge winner" for Americans in the new United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA), and also in agreements reached with China and Japan.
With Britain, however, "we will have agricultural problems" in negotiations, he warned.
Lighthizer vowed that there would be no compromise regarding US agricultural exports.
"We either have a fair access for agriculture or won't have to deal with either one of them," he said.
US-EU trade talks have been stalled for months, locked in disputes over subsidies to Boeing and Airbus and digital taxation as well as agriculture.
In early May, Britain and the United States began negotiations for an "ambitious" free trade agreement to be implemented after the post-Brexit transition period at the end of the year.
High British taxes on the US tech sector is also a sore point in talks.
President Donald Trump is seeking a sweeping trade agreement, Lighthizer said.
THE POLITICS OF GRIEVANCE
As U.S. walks away from talks on digital services tax, Lighthizer says other nations were aiming to ‘screw America’
Published: June 17, 2020 By Victor Reklaitis
Democratic congressman says: ‘My concern is that the administration is about to start another trade war’
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer testifies at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday.
‘I agree completely with what we did at the OECD. The reality was they all came together and agreed that they’d screw America, and that’s just not something that we’re ever going to be a part of.’— U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer
Those comments came Wednesday from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, as he discussed the latest twist in a long-running fight over taxes on digital services.
President Donald Trump has previously threatened what he called “substantial reciprocal action” for such taxes in France and other countries, suggesting the U.S. could slap tariffs on French wine.
France had accepted a delay for the taxes on tech giants such as Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +0.98% on the condition that a deal be achieved on the issue within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. But while Lighthizer on Wednesday said there is “clearly room for a negotiated settlement,” the trade representative added that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently made the decision to suspend talks. Mnuchin reportedly told his counterparts in other countries that negotiations are at an impasse.
Read more:Tech giants face global push for digital taxes
Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas grilled Lighthizer on the issue during the hearing, which focused on the Trump administration’s trade policies and was followed later Wednesday by a similar hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
“The better solution is an international agreement that determines how digital-service companies are taxed,” Doggett said. “My concern is that the administration is about to start another trade war of the type that we have found damaging in the past.”
Democratic congressman says: ‘My concern is that the administration is about to start another trade war’
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer testifies at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday.
‘I agree completely with what we did at the OECD. The reality was they all came together and agreed that they’d screw America, and that’s just not something that we’re ever going to be a part of.’— U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer
Those comments came Wednesday from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, as he discussed the latest twist in a long-running fight over taxes on digital services.
President Donald Trump has previously threatened what he called “substantial reciprocal action” for such taxes in France and other countries, suggesting the U.S. could slap tariffs on French wine.
France had accepted a delay for the taxes on tech giants such as Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +0.98% on the condition that a deal be achieved on the issue within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. But while Lighthizer on Wednesday said there is “clearly room for a negotiated settlement,” the trade representative added that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently made the decision to suspend talks. Mnuchin reportedly told his counterparts in other countries that negotiations are at an impasse.
Read more:Tech giants face global push for digital taxes
Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas grilled Lighthizer on the issue during the hearing, which focused on the Trump administration’s trade policies and was followed later Wednesday by a similar hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
“The better solution is an international agreement that determines how digital-service companies are taxed,” Doggett said. “My concern is that the administration is about to start another trade war of the type that we have found damaging in the past.”
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