Brussels, Belgium – The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the following statement after the meeting today of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Union Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström:
Ambassador Lighthizer had a constructive meeting with Commissioner Malmström to initiate the Executive Working Group to improve trade relations between the United States and the European Union. The Ministers addressed each of the topics in the Joint Statement issued by President Trump and President Juncker on July 25.
The Ministers will meet again at the end of the month to continue talks. In October, professional staff will hold further discussions on identifying and reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. Ministers will then meet in November to finalize outcomes in a number of areas. Specifically, we hope for an early harvest in the area of technical barriers to trade. We look forward to each party pursuing their domestic processes for negotiating mandates. USTR will begin consultations with Congress pursuant to Trade Promotion Authority to facilitate negotiations on longer-term outcomes.
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