Løkke on trade agreement with the USA: Not our choice

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) calls it “good news” that a framework agreement on trade between the EU and the USA was reached on Sunday.
He will await the further details of the agreement, which generally imposes a 15 percent tariff on European goods and services exported to the USA.
“It is no secret that the trade relationship has been and continues to be challenged and plagued by unpredictability and threats of very high tariff barriers, and therefore the EU has prepared robust responses, alongside the intensive negotiations.
The trading conditions will not be as good as before, and that is not our choice, but a balance must be found that stabilizes the situation and that both sides can live with,” says Lars Løkke Rasmussen in a written comment.
US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met on Sunday in Scotland, where the agreement was announced.
The tariff rate of 15 percent is half of the 30 percent tariff that Trump had originally threatened to impose on American imports from the EU.
“Today, a step has been taken in the right direction, and we will take the matter further in the Council (the Council of Ministers in the EU, ed.) to review and assess the agreement and get final approval in place and, together with the Commission, prepare how the agreement can be implemented in the best possible way,” says Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Originally, the EU had hoped to reach an agreement with Trump that both parties would have zero tariffs on each other’s goods. However, that did not happen.
Minister of Business Morten Bødskov (S) chooses to be pleased that there is now clarity for Danish businesses.
“It is a step towards creating the predictability and stability that is important. For the USA is Denmark’s largest export market, and Danish subsidiaries have created more than 90,000 jobs in the USA.
Now we need to thoroughly review the agreement so that together with Danish businesses we ensure that the significant presence in the USA continues to grow,” he says in a written comment.