On June 30th, local time, a spokesperson for the European Commission, Thomas Reinier, emphasized that the EU’s “Digital Markets Act” and “Digital Services Act” are not on the agenda of the EU-US trade negotiations.
Reinier stated that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has clearly indicated that EU sovereign decision-making and legislation are not on the negotiating table, and the EU will not alter its laws, including those related to digital issues. He also mentioned that the EU is making every effort to push forward the negotiations, hoping to reach a trade agreement with the US by July 9th.
The United States has repeatedly accused the EU of having “unfair” digital legislation and demands that the EU relax its regulation over US tech giants. In April this year, the European Commission found that Apple Inc. and the metaverse platform company violated the EU’s “Digital Markets Act,” and imposed hefty fines on both companies.
Maroš Zevc, the Commissioner in charge of trade and economic security among other matters, said on the same day that he would travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. trade officials on July 1st, continuing to push for a trade agreement between the two sides.
Currently, the EU has received a draft principle agreement proposed by the U.S. The EU technical delegation has also arrived in Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on EU goods if there was no breakthrough in the EU-US trade talks by July 9th. Currently, the U.S. imposes a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum products from the EU, a 25% tariff on automobiles, and a base tariff of 10% on almost all other goods.
Trump’s tariff policy has impacted the global economy.