Trump, E.U. announce deal to avert escalation of trade tensions

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post

By Damian Paletta

July 25 at 4:35 PM

Breaking: President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday announced a limited deal to avoid a further escalation of trade tensions. In an unexpected press conference, the two leaders said the European Union would buy more soybeans and liquefied natural gas from the United States as the U.S. and E.U. work to eliminate tariffs on industrial goods. Existing tariff plans would be put on hold, they said, while the steel and aluminum tariffs that Trump imposed earlier this year would be reexamined. This story will be updated.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-pushes-25-percent-auto-tariff-as-top-advisers-scramble-to-stop-him/2018/07/25/f7b9af04-8f8a-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html

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United States and Europe Forestall Trade War With Preliminary Agreement, Further Talks

By Mark Landler and Ana Swanson
July 25, 2018

WASHINGTON — The United States and the European Union stepped back from the brink of a trade war on Wednesday, after President Trump said the Europeans agreed to work toward lowering tariffs and other trade barriers, and to buy billions of dollars of American exports, from soybeans to natural gas.

The announcement, made by Mr. Trump and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, defused, for the moment, a trade battle that began with Mr. Trump’s tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports and threatened to escalate to its automobiles.

“We’re starting the negotiation right now, but we know very much where it’s going,” Mr. Trump said, standing next to Mr. Juncker at a hastily-scheduled appearance in the White House Rose Garden.

Mr. Juncker said, “I had the intention to make a deal today, and we have made a deal today.”

He said both sides would hold off on further tariffs, and potentially drop the existing ones, unless they fail to agree on a deal to reduce tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and subsidies to zero.

more
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/us/politics/trump-europe-trade.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. Good. n/t

[Loki Liesmith]

2. Deal to avert escalation not equal to deal

Last edited Wed Jul 25, 2018, 06:19 PM - Edit history (2)

It’s just an agreement to talk lol

[Delmette2.0]

5. Thank you for using the word "agreement".

FFS even our newspapers can't quit using his stupid words.

End of rant, I feel better.

[sandensea]

3. Watch for Cheeto to turn around in a few days and sign some decree that basically voids it.

You can't trust him any further than you can throw him.

[markses66]

4. Desperate Trump trying to wriggle out of his own catastrophic trade policies

EU will not make up the loss of market of the Chinese tariffs. The announcement of the $12 billion to shore up soy bean farmers in the US was devastating. Even die hard Trumpies were shaking their heads in amazement at how quickly the US market collapsed. This is, at best, a fig leaf: the EU gets any threats of tariffs lifted (or "reexamined," a face-saving construction if ever there was one), and in return provides Trump with some minimal cover on US agriculture. The damage, in any case, is already done, and the quantity of soy bean purchases from Europe won't come close to the 30% of the market going to China. I'd bet it looks more like 3%. More pain to come.

Make no mistake: this is Trump's biggest cave on his asinine policies to date. Somebody from GM showed him earnings data and told him we'd be in deep recession by Christmas if he didn't get his act together. Embarrassing, as usual. We'll probably be in recession by Christmas anyway.

[Squinch]

6. Nice post. Welcome!

[videohead5]

7. The EU

Was ready to put heavy tariffs on American goods. Trump caved.

[GulfCoast66]

8. Buy soybeans at fire sale prices! Of course they will.

Fart of the deal already.

Rolled by rocket man
Rolled the EU.
Rolled over for Putin.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Why would the EU buy GMO soybeans from this country?

Almost 90% of American soybeans are Monsanto GMOs. EU has banned GMO fruits and vegetables.

[Javaman]

10. I fixed the headline...

Trump, E.U. announce deal to avert crashing the U.S. economy

[workinclasszero]

11. Mr Art of the Deal blinked LOL

Idiot is in waaay over his pointy head.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Why the EU Was Already Likely to Import More U.S. Soybeans

The European Union will import more U.S. soybeans as part of a new accord to avoid an all-out trade war. Yet the bloc was already likely to take more American shipments.

That’s because the 25 percent tariff China slapped on U.S. soy imports earlier this month promises to reshape the global market for the commodity. The U.S.-China tiff means it’s likely that Brazil, the No. 2 producer, will end up selling more soy to China as a result. That’s something that traders anticipate, based on the higher price Brazilian soy is fetching over U.S. supplies.

Facing a reduced Chinese market, U.S. soybean exporters have few options other than to target the EU. And the fact that Brazilian shippers will be sending more cargoes to China means less competition in Europe. Rabobank International Ltd. predicted in June that the U.S. may overtake Brazil as the biggest soybean importer into the EU.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-25/why-the-eu-was-already-likely-to-import-more-u-s-soybeans

Bloomberg, a month ago:

The dispute has boosted prices in Brazil, the top shipper, forcing EU processors to look elsewhere for supplies. That’s likely to mean that the U.S. will overtake Brazil as the biggest seller to the 28-nation bloc next season, according to Rabobank International Ltd.



“If China implements tariffs, we believe the EU will import more U.S. beans than Brazilian origin,” said Michael Magdovitz, a London-based oilseeds analyst at Rabobank, a lender to agricultural commodity traders. “The discounted price of U.S. beans compared to Brazilian origin will cause that to happen.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-27/trade-spat-to-turn-u-s-into-top-soybean-supplier-to-eu-market

Brazil can charge China more for its soybeans; the USA can charge less, so the EU buys from there. Winners: Brazilian producers, EU buyers. Losers: American producers, Chinese buyers.