The visit comes as the EU weighs imposing retaliatory tariffs on €21.5 billion in U.S. exports to “mirror” the new, and broader, steel and aluminum duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month.
Late last week, the Commission decided to delay one batch of its tariff response from April 1 to April 13.
That bought time to negotiate with Washington and calibrate the EU’s response as Washington finalizes a fresh round of “reciprocal” tariffs due on April 2 — styled by Trump as “Liberation Day.” The U.S. president indicated last week that he was not open to granting exemptions from those tariffs — with the EU set to be caught among the worst hit.
Brussels is also trying to rally some skeptical EU countries, such as France and Italy, which have lashed out against the inclusion of wine and alcohol in the lists of goods likely to be caught in the trade spat.
It’s Šefčovič’s second trip to Washington since Trump took office in January. He will meet Lutnick, the Commerce secretary, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday. It wasn’t yet clear whether the EU trade negotiator would attend any other public engagements in Washington D.C.
The Slovak commissioner is then due to fly to Beijing on Thursday and Friday for his first visit to China since being confirmed as EU trade commissioner late last year.
This story has been updated.