Sawt Falasteen - EU nears finish line on US tariff deal

It has been a long time coming.

The EU and the United States clinched the agreement in July last year, setting levies on most of the bloc's goods at 15 percent, while Brussels agreed on zero tariffs for US products.

But to President Donald Trump's chagrin, the EU had yet to fulfil its side of the bargain, after Trump's threats to Greenland and a US Supreme Court decision striking down many of his tariffs fuelled months of delay.

EU capitals have already endorsed the deal, meaning the approval by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) would be the final political step before its implementation -- putting the bloc well on track to meet Trump's July 4 deadline and defuse his threat of new tariffs on European vehicles.

The biggest political forces in the parliament including the largest, the conservative European People's Party (EPP) to which EU chief Ursula von der Leyen belongs, have all made it clear they will endorse the agreement.

That would leave only a few formal steps -- a final rubber stamp by member states expected in coming days or weeks, and publication in the EU's official journal -- for it to take effect.

Parliament has introduced a series of safeguards into the text including an expiration date of the end of 2029 for the agreement unless it is renewed.

Another "safety net" measure gives the European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, the power to suspend the pact if the United States fails to meet its commitments or disrupts trade and investment.

"The European Parliament made it quite clear that we are not really accepting any deal coming from the United States without defending our European interests," trade committee head Bernd Lange said on Thursday.

Socialist democrat EU lawmaker Brando Benifei said Brussels needed to "stop being weak" and "be firm" in its relations with Washington, after parliament strengthened the trade pact to empower the bloc's executive.

- 'Most viable option' -

After Trump returned to the White House last year, he unleashed a tariff blitz, with duties and levies targeting the steel, aluminium and auto sectors.

Seeking lower levies, von der Leyen scrambled to get a deal with Trump in the hope of reducing trade tensions with the EU's largest trade partner -- a relationship worth $2 trillion.

The EPP wants to see the deal over the line to give certainty to EU companies after last year's unpredictability.

The US-EU tariff deal "remains the most viable option on the table and the best available outcome for EU businesses," Jorgen Warborn MEP, the EPP Group spokesman on international trade, added.

The hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) also said it would support the deal.

"At a time of global uncertainty, keeping the transatlantic economy stable is simply good for Europe," ECR spokesman Michael Strauss said last week.

Not everyone is happy however, with EU lawmakers from the Greens, the Left as well as some centrists arguing the bloc was failing to stand up for its interests on trade.

M.Qasim--SF-PST