President Donald Trump said Monday the time has come to pursue trade negotiations with the European Union which he said imposes incredible barriers to US goods .
“ Europe has been treating us very badly , ” Trump said at a White House event with US state governors .

After reaching a series of trade deals with Canada , Mexico and Japan and a phase -one agreement with China , Trump said , “ The next thing could be Europe , where we talk to them very seriously ” .

Relations between the two major economies have lingered for months in a tense truce .

Trump has imposed punishing tariffs on EU goods like French wine in a dispute over Airbus and other goods in a confrontation over tax on digital giants like Google and Amazon.

But so far , he has held off on threatened punitive duties on European cars aimed at forcing a change in trade policy . Trump reached a ceasefire with the EU in mid -2018 , when the sides agreed to pursue negotiations, talks that so far have not resulted in anything concrete .

Trump said he focused first on the dispute with China and renegotiating the continental free trade pact with Canada and Mexico because he “ didn ’ t want to do the whole world at one time ” .

But on Monday , he renewed his complaints about EU trade policy , even claiming improbably that the economic bloc “ was really formed so they could treat us badly . ”
“ They have barriers that are incredible , ” Trump said , adding , “ They ’ re ready for a deal ” .

Source:- AFP

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