The European Union’s proposal to the United States to mutually zero out duties on passenger cars is “not good enough,” US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg.

European consumers are accustomed to buying their own cars, not American ones, Trump explained. In his opinion, the EU in its trade policy towards the United States is “almost as bad as China, only a little less.” The American leader also again expressed dissatisfaction with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trump threatened to withdraw from the WTO if the organization does not change its attitude towards the United States.

Earlier, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malström said in the European Parliament that the EU is ready to zero duties on industrial goods from the United States, including cars, if Washington responds in kind. “We said that the EU is ready to move to zero duties on industrial goods if the United States does the same, on a reciprocal basis,” Malmström said. “We are ready to even eliminate duties on cars if the United States does the same.” We are not talking about returning to the previous draft free trade agreement between the EU and the United States (TTIP), the European official noted: the new agreement will not affect either agricultural products or government procurement.

Currently, EU import duties on US passenger cars are 10%, higher than US import duties of 2.5% (duties on trucks are 25%). Trump threatened to raise tariffs on European cars, imports of which into the United States reached almost $50 billion in 2017, to 20-25%. The trade conflict between the US and the EU began with the introduction by the American administration of duties on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) from June 1. The EU responded with 25% tariffs on $3.3 billion worth of food, whiskey, tobacco and other products.

During the ensuing negotiations, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Trump agreed not to introduce new duties until the end of the consultations, but their possible zeroing was not reported then.

Amid disagreements with the EU, the US is also waging a trade war with China. The White House has imposed 25% tariffs on Chinese imports worth $50 billion. According to six Bloomberg sources, Trump intends to implement his plan to introduce another 10% tariff on goods from China worth $200 billion as early as next week.

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Trump was not satisfied with the EU's proposal to mutually zero out duties on cars