EU envoy heads to Washington as trade deal deadline looms - Economy
The European Commission, which conducts trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, has until Wednesday next week to reach a deal or see swingeing US tariffs kick in on a majority of its goods.
Sefcovic told reporters he aimed to hold meetings with his US counterparts in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday. "The ninth of July is around the corner," he said.
Since the United States observes the Independence Day public holiday on July 4, the two days will be critical for the European Union to snag a deal to avoid the sweeping levies.
If no agreement is reached, the default tariff on EU imports is expected to double to 20 percent or even higher -- Trump having at one point threatened 50 percent.
Sefcovic said he has held "intensive" and "very intense" discussions with his US counterparts, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
"Of course, we hope to see them in Washington, DC later this week, we know that there is the fourth of July on Friday, so it leaves us Wednesday and Thursday for eventual meetings, which we are planning right now," he told reporters in Brussels.
Sefcovic last met US negotiators face-to-face in Paris on the sidelines of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development meeting early in June, but he has spoken to his counterparts several times by phone in the past few months.
A technical EU delegation is already in Washington, Sefcovic said.
The EU commission has received "first drafts of the proposals for the eventual agreement in principle" that "we are working on", he added.
The EU's biggest economies, France and Germany, last week urged a quick agreement -- indicating they could back an unbalanced accord with some level of US tariffs on EU goods.
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