ZAGREB, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) was unfairly pressured into signing a trade agreement with the United States last month, a former Croatian Environment Minister and ambassador to Russia has said.
Bozo Kovacevic told Xinhua in a recent interview: "This is not a fair agreement because it was concluded under duress. The U.S. president set various conditions, ultimatums, and deadlines."
The EU signed the deal with the United States to avoid a scenario where America would impose enormous tariffs on European goods, and the EU would have to retaliate in kind, Kovacevic said.
U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal on July 27. While the White House touted it as "historic," many in Europe have criticized it as unfair to the EU.
A document released by the White House on July 28 showed that the vast majority of EU exports to the United States, including pharmaceuticals, automobiles and parts, and semiconductors, would face a 15 percent tariff rate, lower than Trump's initial threat. However, European steel, aluminum, and copper products exported to the United States will continue to be subject to tariffs up to 50 percent. Meanwhile,
Kovacevic, who was the minister of environmental protection and physical planning from 2000-2003, and served as Croatian ambassador to Russia from 2004-2009, said that Trump and von der Leyen should be aware that things will not necessarily go as planned under the agreement.
"Ultimately, strategic decisions are not made by the European Commission, but by the European Council, which consists of the presidents and prime ministers of European countries," Kovacevic said. "Ursula von der Leyen promised large European investments in America, without prior consultation with companies that could be European investors in America."
To achieve the EU-U.S. deal, von der Leyen agreed that the EU would purchase 750 billion U.S. dollars' worth of energy products from the United States and increase its investment in the United States by 600 billion dollars.
Kovacevic told Xinhua his doubts about the implementation of the EU-U.S. trade agreement. He said that although the EU has declared that the deal was a better solution than the high tariffs announced by the U.S. side, many details are vague.
"The key thing is that no one knows how this agreement can be implemented; that is the problem," he cautioned.
As for the tariffs, Kovacevic noted that economic research has shown it is the U.S. consumers who will bear the consequences, and the fallout from the tariffs is already evident in the U.S. market. ■