EU looks to revive US trade talks

The European Union sent a revised trade proposal to Washington as it seeks to revive seemingly moribund negotiations.

The offer, sent ahead of talks between the EU’s top economic official and the US Treasury secretary today, would reportedly align the two economies on issues such as energy and artificial intelligence, and cut tariffs on non-agricultural goods to zero.

However, any such deal would still result in higher barriers than before, the EU’s economy commissioner noted, and would be an “economically suboptimal outcome.”

Instead, a former EU trade negotiator argued, the bloc should diversify its relationships and join the CPTPP, a trans-Pacific trading agreement. “In a stormy world,” she wrote, “you need friends and allies.”