President Donald Trump’s Friday schedule had somewhat of an ominous announcement on European trade scheduled for 1:45 p.m., just one day after he announced new tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.
But fear not, as the new announcement does not include new tariffs, which would certainly send the stock market reeling into to the weekend after Thursday’s nosedive.
According to Bloomberg, Friday’s news conference will be to formally announce a deal to open up the European Union to more U.S. beef exports after the trade bloc carved out quotas from other nations earlier this year.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and a European ambassador will sign an agreement to increase the amount of U.S. beef hitting EU marketplaces.
American farmers will now reportedly get almost an 80% share — about 35,000 metric tons — of the EU’s annual quota on hormone-free beef over the next seven years, with an initial allocation of about 40%, EU officials said in June. After the EU persuaded Australia, Argentina and Uruguay to let go of their portions of the import quota, the Trump administration secured this new deal for more U.S. access to the market.
Lighthizer deemed the formal signing ceremony an attempt to show progress on a trade front.
The EU’s quota was set a full decade ago to settle a dispute over a previous ban on meat from cattle that were given growth hormones. World Trade Organization rules require the volumes be available to other countries that export beef, and Australia, Argentina and Uruguay supplanted the U.S. as the largest suppliers to the EU.
The announcement comes as tariffs on EU auto imports hang over recent trade spats, including France and French wine imports to the U.S. France threatened to impose a tax on tech giants that will mostly affect U.S. companies, drawing a threat of retaliation from Trump.
The news comes just one day after the stock markets were sent reeling by Trump’s announcement of 10% tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese imports beginning on Sept. 1.
