EU-US trade deal talks likely to be ‘frozen’ for years – commissioner

Hopes for a trade deal between the European Union and the United States faded on Friday as the EU's trade commissioner conceded that agreement on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) was unlikely following the electoral success of Donald Trump.

Speaking in Brussels following a meeting of EU trade ministers, commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom acknowledged that the talks were likely to be "frozen" for some years.

“TTIP will probably be in the freezer for quite some time and then what will happen when it is defrosted? I think we will need to wait and see,” Ms Malmstrom said. “I don’t see the resumption of any TTIP negotiation in quite a long time.”

While Mr Trump will not assume office until January 20th, the president-elect has repeatedly outlined his opposition to TTIP and TPP, the trans-Pacific partnership signed between the US and 12 Asia-Pacific countries including Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Japan’s parliament ratified that deal on Thursday, but the US has yet to sign off on the agreement which now may be shelved by the incoming administration in Washington.

Losing support

Though at a less-advanced stage, TTIP has been under discussion since June 2013. But despite significant technical progress between the two negotiating teams in recent months, it has been losing public support in both Europe and the US.

Even before the US election, officials in Brussels had conceded that agreement on the trade deal was unlikely before the end of President Barack Obama’s second term after senior members of the German and French government voiced their opposition to it.

Minister for State for Employment Pat Breen, who represented Ireland at the meeting, said it had been expected that the TTIP talks would come to a natural pause until the new US administration was appointed. But he stressed the advantages of free trade to Ireland.

“The work by the EU and the US on TTIP has made much progress on cutting red tape to make trading easier for EU firms,” he said. “Ireland’s prosperity as a small open economy depends on having a free trading environment internationally.”

Meanwhile, EU ministers considered strengthening various trade defence measures as the bloc attempts to react to the influx of cheap imports from nations such as China.

A proposal from the commission earlier this week proposed strengthening anti-dumping measures against Beijing in a bid to protect the European steel industry in particular.

China is due to be given “market economy status” in the EU under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules in mid-December, a development a number of member states are opposing.

Different rules

Under a proposal published on Tuesday, the EU would apply different rules to countries where the economy is distorted due to state intervention, scrapping the distinction between countries with a market economy status and those without. This would allow the EU to continue to impose anti-dumping duties on WTO countries such as China.

A final decision from member states is expected later this year.

Ireland is among a number of pro-trade countries that has traditionally opposed protectionist actions by the EU.

A number of countries also fear that imposing stiffer duties on China could prompt retaliatory measures from Beijing which could affect exports to China, including European agricultural products.

But steel manufacturers in a number of EU countries have voiced their concerns about the alleged dumping of Chinese imports on the market in protests over recent months.