Key Trade Meeting Delayed Amid Deadlock On Metals Agreement

Bloomberg reporting that a US-EU trade meeting, scheduled to take place next month, is expected to be pushed into 2024 amid a lack of progress resolving a steel and aluminum dispute.

• Failure to reach an agreement on the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum by year end risks the return of Trump-era tariffs and retaliatory EU measures. Bloomberg notes that the original dispute, "resulted in tariffs on as much as $10 billion in transatlantic trade."
• On Tuesday, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Bob Casey (D-PA) sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging against a deal with the EU to remove tariffs: "During the Biden Administration, Senators Brown and Casey have fiercely advocated for keeping tariffs in place to protect Americans workers. In 2021, Brown and Casey applauded the Administration for an agreement with the European Union on steel and aluminum tariffs."
• Since the retirement of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Brown is Democrat Senator considered most critical to Democrat ambitions of retaining the Senate in 2024. His re-election is dependent on a domestic manufacturing voter base, meaning the White House must act with caution in any major trade deal.
• Earlier this month, Brown torpedoed a White House plan to announce a major IPEF trade agreement at the APEC Summit in San Francisco, citing concerns over worker rights.
• Bloomberg notes that parallel talks on a critical mineral agreement which would allow EU firms to access US Inflation Reduction Act subsidies remain, "stalled over labor rights."