Many worked before agreeing with Washington to avoid new customs duties

The European Commissioner for Economy Valdes Dombrovscis stressed on Friday that “there is a lot before us” that must be completed before reaching an agreement with Washington to “avoid” the new customs duties imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.

“There is a lot of work in front of us to reach tangible standards … in order to avoid imposing customs duties,” the official said during a press conference at a week of meetings in the American capital.

For weeks, the European Union has been trying to find a way out of the trade conflict that Trump ignited his removal after his return to the White House and accused the United States’ trade partners of “theft” of his country.

In particular, Washington imposed an additional 10 percent additional customs duties on European products entering the United States, which threatened the Republican billionaire to increase to 20 percent.

Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which concludes Friday in the American capital, provided the European bloc an opportunity to confirm its position against Trump’s teams.

Dombrovscis met on Friday with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and later told the press that the meeting was an opportunity to reaffirm the European Union’s desire to “reach an agreement” to “avoid a scenario” in which the global economy will suffer from the customs duties imposed by the United States.

The European bloc proposed to buy more American LNG and cancel customs duties on industrial products on both sides. (Sky News)