EU ready to deal on Trump's tariffs?

Politico:

The European Commission is developing a plan to offer Donald Trump the prospect of a trade deal with the EU in exchange for a permanent exemption from U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, according to five EU officials and diplomats.

The plan, which has strong backing from Berlin, has been raised in bilateral discussions with France, Italy and other EU countries. It foresees offering the U.S. a scoping exercise in which both sides would analyze the content and feasibility of a potential trade deal.

The aim is to use the prospect of a trade deal as a bargaining chip to exclude the EU from punitive tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum announced by the American president last month. The U.S. subsequently exempted the EU from the tariffs until May 1 pending further discussions, although Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has demanded that the EU be permanently released from the tariff threat.

“In our ongoing talks with the American side, we are insisting on getting a full exemption from the announced steel and aluminum tariffs. Once that has been agreed, we would be open to discuss various possible ways of reducing trade irritants,” said a Commission spokesperson.

“Malmström is already discussing the plan with [U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur] Ross,” said one EU diplomat.

One of the options under the plan the Commission is discussing is to limit a potential future trade agreement to eliminating tariffs on industrial goods, such as cars and machines, the officials said. The Commission is also keen to get some concessions from the Americans on public procurement, according to one person briefed on the talks.

Another, less ambitious option would be to look at reducing non-tariff-barriers, such as different safety standards on vehicle parts.

“The Germans have calculated that industrial trade with the U.S. is so big that it would cover substantially all trade,” said an EU diplomat. That’s important, because covering the vast majority of bilateral trade is an important criterion for a deal to be valid under global trade rules.
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It looks like Trump is getting some movement on making trade with the EU fairer than it currently is.  The EU is a protectionist organization run by "progressive" control freaks who overregulate almost everything including bananas.