European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is pencilled in to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 25 in Washington to talk trade, three sources familiar with the trip said.
Germany wants Juncker to discuss different options for a trade deal with Trump, but France has repeatedly stressed Brussels should not make any offer until Trump pulls back from imposing tariffs.
Two officials said Berlin would like Juncker to offer three different deals: a bilateral EU-U.S. agreement to lower tariffs on industrial goods, which had been previously pushed by Germanys government, a plurilateral agreement to slash car tariffs, or a trimmed version of TTIP, which would include regulatory standards.
One EU diplomat said the offer of a “mini-TTIP” could include an offer to increase imports of U.S. beef. While the beef quota is actually linked to an old WTO dispute, Brussels could be willing to allow Trump to sell these negotiations as a win for America.
A spokesperson for Juncker said he would “develop his thinking and his strategy in the coming weeks.”
Hans von der Burchard contributed reporting.
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