EU Trade Commissioner Šefčovič to Meet U.S. Representative Greer Amid Tariff Tensions

BRUSSELS — EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday in Paris, as transatlantic trade tensions spike over Washington’s latest threats to impose steep tariffs on European cars.

A member of Šefčovič’s cabinet confirmed that the meeting would take place on the eve of a meeting of G7 trade ministers in the French capital on Wednesday.

The meeting comes after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened last week to hike tariffs on cars and trucks imported from the EU to 25 percent from 15 percent, frustrated by how long the bloc was taking to implement the trade agreement struck last July at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.

Should Trump make good on his pledge, the car tariffs would mostly affect Germany’s struggling car industry — and put further pressure on embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump has ordered a drawdown of U.S. troops from Germany after Merz said he lacked a clear strategy to end the war with Iran and had been “humiliated” by the regime in Tehran.

Following Trump’s threats, a European Commission spokesperson said on Friday that the EU “will keep our options open to protect EU interests.”

The EU institutions are still negotiating over legislation to implement the deal, under which the bloc would scrap duties on U.S. industrial goods. Lawmakers want to attach a string of conditions, taking the view that Trump has already breached it by hiking tariffs on products containing steel and threatening to annex Greenland, a Danish protectorate.

French Finance and Economy Minister Roland Lescure and Trade Minister Nicolas Forissier will also meet with Greer late Tuesday afternoon. Paris has joined EU lawmakers in opposing quick implementation of the Turnberry deal, while a majority led by Germany is pushing to get it done.