Leaders from across the world offered their congratulations on Saturday, November 7 to U.S. President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, following their projected win in the 2020 presidential election. As partners with shared history and values, EU leaders were among the first to send well wishes to Biden and Harris. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she looked forward to working with President-elect Biden, adding, “The European Union and the United States are friends...

Statement | 2 October 2020 | By Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner-Designate for Trade Honourable Chairman, Esteemed Members of the European Parliament, I was honoured when President von der Leyen placed her trust in me to continue to lead our shared European trade agenda. I hope that at the end of this hearing, you too will feel satisfied that you can place your trust in me. Honourable members, you already know me. I have worked with this house on many...

As economies now look for paths to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, new evidence reaffirms that policies for more open and trade-integrated economies could significantly benefit domestic competition and ultimately may help lower costs for consumers in emerging and developing economies. A recent Working Paper, building on the Regional Economic Outlook chapter on competition, competitiveness and growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, examines the effect of trade liberalization using a large firm-level dataset covering about 400,000 firms in 83 emerging and developing economies from 2000...

The European Commission today published a proposal for a Council and European Parliament regulation to scrap duties on certain imports to the EU. In return, the United States will reduce its duties on certain EU exports to the U.S. market. This will put into effect the agreement announced by the EU and the U.S. on 21 August 2020. These tariff reductions between the EU and the U.S. will increase access to both EU and U.S. markets by around €200 million per...

21 August 2020| Brussels United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan today announced agreement on a package of tariff reductions that will increase market access for hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. and EU exports. These tariff reductions are the first U.S.-EU negotiated reductions in duties in more than two decades. Under the agreement, the EU will eliminate tariffs on imports of U.S. live and frozen lobster products. U.S. exports of these products to...