Polish trade minister plays down 50% U.S. tariff threat, says US-EU trade talks ongoing

By Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Polish Trade Minister Michal Baranowski played down on Friday the threat of the United States imposing 50% tariffs on European goods from June 1 as a move in the ongoing negotiations, underlining there was time for EU-U.S. talks until early July.

Earlier on Friday, President Donald Trump said he was recommending a straight 50% tariff on goods from the European Union starting on June 1, because trade negotiations with the EU were "going nowhere".

"The European Union and the United States are negotiating. Some negotiate behind closer doors, others more in front of cameras," Baranowski, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation European Union, told reporters.

"The fact that we see some important statements in the public domain does not mean that they will translate into actions of the U.S. administration," he said.

In early April, Washington set a 90-day window until July 8 for negotiations with the EU on a trade deal. Until then, U.S. reciprocal tariffs on EU goods, initially set at 20%, would be 10%, with the exception of steel, aluminium, and cars which get a 25% tariff from the U.S.

"So far we have a clear signal, also at the political level, that the United States and the European Union have decided to hold back with reciprocal tariffs. We have time until early July to conduct negotiations and according to my best knowledge these negotiations are moving forward," Baranowski said.

"(EU) Trade Commissioner (Maros) Sefcovic and will see U.S. chief negotiator (Jamieson) Greer at the beginning of June in Paris which will be another opportunity to discussion concrete steps, rather than talk in such generalities," Baranowski said.

Baranowski said the European Union decided jointly not to escalate the rhetoric in the trade dispute with Washington and to conduct talks behind closed doors, which Sefcovic was doing very well with full support of EU governments.

Asked if the Trump threat of 50% tariffs was a form of pressure in the negotiations, Baranowski said:

"President Trump is showing that he too would like to quickly reach the best agreement between the United States and Europe and here we fully share his view, because indeed Europe is the most important economic partner for the United States as well as the United States for Europe," he said.

"I am convinced that in the end we will reach a deal, but it is possible that the road to it will be bumpy and full of all kinds of interesting statements," he said.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Toby Chopra)