The European Union admitted that it does not have the power to keep its promise to invest $ 600 billion in the US, just hours after its signature trade agreement In historical conversations in Scotland. This is due to the fact that the money would come entirely from private sector investments, in which Brussels had no power, two EU officials said according to Politico.

It is recalled that on Sunday, the President of the Commission Ursula von der Layen resulted in an agreement with the US President Donald Trump to avoid a trade war between the EU and the US. The agreement included the commitment to invest an additional $ 600 billion in the US in the US in the coming years.

However, in their statements on Monday, two senior officials of the Commission clarified that the money would come exclusively from private European companies, without any contribution from public investment.

“It is not something that the EU can guarantee as a public authority. It is something based on the intentions of private companies, “said one of the senior officials of the Commission. The Commission has not stated that it will be motivated to ensure that the private sector will achieve the target of $ 600 billion, nor has it given an exact timetable for investment.

However, the first official said the $ 600 billion “was based on detailed discussions with various business associations and companies in order to determine their investment intentions”.

Avoid duty

Trump had threatened to impose 30% duties on most EU imports from the EU from August 1, but after Sunday’s negotiations he reduced the duties to 15%.

EU’s $ 600 billion investment promise played a decisive role in reaching this agreement, but quickly criticized that an investment of such magnitude would be at the expense of investment in Europe.

The Commission pointed out that the amount would come from private companies and not from European taxpayers, as opposed to Japan’s promise to mobilize $ 550 billion from public and private investment in the US as part of a recently agreed trade agreement.

However, the idea that the private sector can be considered reliable to provide this level of investment was treated with skepticism. “The EU is not China, right? Therefore, no one can tell private companies how much they need to invest in the US, “Nils Redeker told Politico from Think Tank Jacques Delors Center

EU officials said the estimated $ 600 billion will be added to the current EU private investment in the US, amounting to 2.8 trillion. dollars and correspond to about 3.4 million jobs.