EU-US trade talks: European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA) vote

Posted on 27.02.2019

The next step is for the European Parliament (plenary) to vote on its position on the proposed mandates, the EU Council of Ministers is also expected to adopt the draft negotiating mandates in March. Once the Parliament and the Council adopt their positions, the Commission can start negotiations based on the final mandate.
INTA Committee has endorsed the mandates with a note that the conclusion of a trade agreement as proposed in the Commission mandates can be achieved provided that several conditions are met, i.e.:

– the US must lift tariffs on aluminium and steel;
– a comprehensive consultation process with civil society and a sustainability impact assessment are carried out;
– the EU insists on including cars and car tariffs in the talks, and on excluding agriculture;
– talks will be suspended if the US levies another tariff;
– more clarity on how rules of origin (which lock in how much of the value of a product must be created locally for trade preferences) are handled during the talks.

MedTech Europe continues its engagement with stakeholders to ensure that industry recommendations for agreement on medical devices between the EU and the US are duly considered. For more information contact [email protected] and [email protected]