Sorting through the EU trade rhetoric

The back and forth continuing this morning as European Union officials now say that the proposed trade talks with the United States wouldn’t include farming. According to an article on the website Business Times.com this directly contradicts what President Donald Trump says. An EU Commission spokeswoman says they’ve been very clear on that fact. The spokeswoman adds that agriculture is not part of it, only the things that were specifically mentioned in the statement that came out Thursday. “The joint statement shows no mention of agriculture, as such you’ll see a mention of farmers and a mention of soybeans, which are part of the discussion,” says Mina Andreeva. “That is part of the discussion and we will follow up on that.” The EU clarification comes after the president called the agreement a “major victory for U.S. farmers,” who’ve seen plummeting exports due to Washington’s trade policies. Trump told a rally in Iowa that “We’ve just opened up Europe for you farmers” and of course he has held off on implementing tariffs on the EU which does matter in the conversation.  There's also speculation the EU may be feeling pressure to emphasize that there was no farming concession made to Trump because of opposition in Europe to more genetically modified imports from America.


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