EU negotiator says 'some way to go' on US trade deal

European ⁠politicians and governments are making good progress in negotiations to finalise a deal scrapping duties on US imports but "there is still some way to go", the European Parliament's chief negotiator Bernd Lange has said.

The politicians and governments were aiming to finalise a deal under renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump, with divisions over safeguards an overhang on the chances of a swift agreement.

"We have just concluded a constructive second trilogue during which we made good progress on the issue of the safeguard mechanism and the review and evaluation of the main regulation, but there is still some way to go," Mr Lange said in a statement.

The negotiators will meet again on 19 May for the next round of talks.

Mr Trump said ⁠on Friday he would increase tariffs on EU cars and trucks to 25% this week, from 15% currently, because the EU was not complying with the terms of a deal struck in Scotland last July.

Many EU countries want to ward off that threat and are pushing for swift implementation of legislation to remove import duties on US industrial goods and grant preferential access to US farm and sea produce, as set ‌out in the trade accord.

However, nine months after the deal was struck, the European Parliament and European Council, the body representing EU governments, still have to agree on a common text ⁠before the duty reductions can enter force.

Mr Lange said earlier in May that Mr Trump's "behaviour is unacceptable" after the US president's surprise ‌move to increase tariffs.

EU politicians want tougher safeguards, including suspending the deal if the ⁠US fails to ‌comply, making tariff cuts conditional on US action and ending EU tariff concessions entirely on 31 March 2028.

EU governments had little appetite for inserting such items, one EU diplomat said.

Another said the two sides were still far apart, with further talks likely to be required next month.

Manfred Weber, president ⁠of the centre-right European People's Party, the largest group in the European Parliament, said he wanted to see a final vote in the ⁠EU assembly in May.

However, that appears ambitious given a number of political groups believe Mr Trump's latest threat means strong safeguards are essential.

The car tariff threat cast a shadow over a meeting of G7 trade ministers in Paris yesterday.

German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche, whose country would be among those hardest hit by the car tariff increase, said she was in intense talks with US officials and was hopeful they would "solve this challenge".

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said he would be heading to Brussels to ‌attend the negotiations later in the day.