Brussels describes the technical meetings taking place in Washington with representatives of the US side on the tariffs issue as constructive.

“Technical meetings are already underway in Washington, and I can tell you that the first day of talks has been very constructive. And tomorrow in Paris, European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefkowitz will meet with US Trade Representative Jamison Greer, Commission spokesman for trade Olaf Gill said at today’s press conference.

Tomorrow’s meeting between the two sides will take place in Paris. European officials consider it extremely important. Talks have intensified since European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, have made significant progress, and are taking place in a “good climate,” Mr. Gill said.

Meanwhile, the Commission today declined to say whether it had received a letter similar to the one the US appears to have sent to a significant number of trading partners asking for better offers, even giving a deadline of tomorrow, Wednesday. “We do not provide a commentary on all the different types of documents we have exchanged with the US (…) Following the telephone conversation between Presidents Fond der Leyen and Donald Trump, both sides agreed to accelerate the pace of the ongoing talks. So we are not going to comment on what is happening in the negotiations at the moment, because they are ongoing,” the Commission spokesman said.