Phil Hogan who is the new trade commissioner of European Commission arriving in Washington on what is seemingly an impossible mission which is to reset the largest trade and investment relationship of the world after three years of the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump that have rattled the trade relations.
This is looking like it is going to be the biggest challenge for the Irishman till date after a tough however successful negotiations on the beef deal of European union with the United States and a bigger deal with Japan which had taken effect in the last year.
This visit has come as Trump and the trade representative of United States, Robert Lighthizer have been feeling flush from the NAFTA renegotiation being successful and another deal which is likely to be signed with China this Wednesday.
Trump has seen both of these agreements as a vindication of his approach of stricter negotiations of trade which also involved the withdrawal from NAFTA and the duties that he slapped on the goods of China.
The disputes now over the new digital tax on services lately imposed in France and the support of Europe for Airbus has given Trump one more chance of imposing the tariffs as a threat and with the trial for impeachment pending, the new duties on the Europeans are going to make Trump show the world that the presidency of his rule is well and truly alive if not the perfect.
With this as the background, Hogan is going to hope to persuade Lighthizer for delaying any further action that may disrupt the relations between the United States and the European Union more.
