Washington (Reuters) – The European Union will have to lower its non -pricing barriers, in particular those created by value added taxes (VAT), if it wants to reach an agreement to reduce American customs duties, said the White House Commerce Advisor Peter Navarro said on Monday.

Considering on the CNBC television channel that the will of the EU to negotiate with Donald Trump was a “good start”, Peter Navarro said that non -pricing barriers, which also include regulations in food security, were “greater orders” greater than the customs duty rates imposed.

One of Donald Trump’s main architects of the vast tariff offensive, he also said that non-tariff barriers were a problem for trade in the United States with many countries.

Her comments come when the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said at a press conference in Brussels that the EU was ready to negotiate a “zero” pricing pact with the United States for industrial products. EU ministers have decided to give priority to negotiations rather than retaliatory measures.

“I would say to the EU that when she will make these announcements, she will have to take care to tell us that she will lower her non -pricing barriers,” said Peter Navarro.

“The EU must give up its 19%VAT. The EU must respect the decisions of the WTO (World Trade Organization) which authorize us to sell our pork, our corn and our beef” in its member countries, he added.

European Commerce Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, said on Monday that the European Union would not change its VAT system, which it described as an important source of income for the twenty-seven.

He added that EU negotiators had not seen a commitment that would lead to a mutually acceptable solution, and that if the negotiations did not succeed in an agreement, the EU’s own US customs rights, which will start on April 15, could not be delayed.

(Report David Lawder and Andrea Shalal; Etienne Breban; edited by Sophie Louet)

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