EU Trade Chief Meets With Trump Officials to Try to Head off 'Harmful' Tariffs

The European Union's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic was due to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade officials on Tuesday to try to avoid steep U.S. tariffs on EU goods as early as next week.

Sefcovic had two previous discussions with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that have yet to alter Trump's plans to raise U.S. import duties to match the rates charged by major trading partners and counteract their non-tariff trade barriers.

USTR and the EU's Washington delegation office had no immediate comment on the discussions.

The meetings come as some countries are preparing tariff concessions ahead of Trump's April 2 announcement of the reciprocal tariff plan, a day he has dubbed "Liberation Day" for the U.S. economy from unfair trade practices.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that India is open to cutting tariffs on more than half of U.S. imports, valued at $23 billion, in the first phase. India has among the highest trade-weighted average tariff rates at 12.1%, compared to 2.5% for the U.S., according to the World Trade Organization.