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The US has threatened to hit EU agricultural exports with 17 per cent tariffs in a dramatic escalation of its trade conflict with Brussels, said three people briefed on the discussions.
The eleventh-hour move came ahead of a July 9 deadline to agree a trade deal, after which the US has said it will impose 20 per cent tariffs on all EU goods should no agreement be reached.
President Donald Trump wants Brussels to give US companies wide-ranging exemptions from regulations and to cut its trade surplus with the US.
Maroš Šefčovič, the EU trade commissioner, was handed the warning on Thursday in meetings in Washington and it was passed on to the 27 member state ambassadors on Friday.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, said on Thursday that she hoped for an “agreement in principle” that would allow the sides to keep talking pending a final deal. However, Washington is pushing countries to agree binding deals by Trump’s deadline.
This is a developing story
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