EU push to protect digital rules holds up trade statement with US, FT reports

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

(Reuters) -The European Union is trying to prevent the United States from targeting the bloc’s digital rules as both sides work through the final details of a delayed statement to formalise a trade deal reached last month, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

EU officials said disagreements over language relating to “non-tariff barriers”, which the U.S. said include the digital rules, are among the reasons for the hold-up of the statement, the newspaper said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The European Union, the White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The statement had originally been expected days after the July announcement by EU President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Donald Trump, according to FT.

The July deal imposed a 15% import tariff on most EU goods – half the initially threatened rate – and helped avert a broader trade war between the two allies, who together account for nearly a third of global trade.

The U.S. wanted to keep the door open for possible concessions on the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which Washington says stifles free speech and imposes costs on U.S. tech companies, according to FT, which added that the commission has said that relaxing these rules is a red line.

The EU’s DSA is a landmark law meant to make the online environment safer and fairer by compelling tech giants to do more to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material.

The commission had anticipated that Trump would sign an executive order by August 15 to cut tariffs on EU car exports to the U.S. from 27.5% to 15%. However, a U.S. official signaled that this would be delayed until the joint statement was finalized, according to FT.

(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Kim Coghill)