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U.S. President Donald Trump is turning up the heat on Brussels when it comes to trade discussions. He’s set on taking down some trade barriers to so-called “chlorine chicken,” GMO crops, and other U.S. products that don’t fit into the EU’s strict food safety standards. The two sides are still stuck on agriculture, which isn’t helping the talks that have struggled to get off the ground since 2018. Each side has been talking up the potential of a deal ahead in the coming weeks or months. EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan has said recently he’s aiming for a mini agreement as soon as March 18. U.S. officials have long been unhappy with the EU policy that tightly controls agricultural tools like pesticides. Hogan notes that U.S. rules currently block sales of European apples and pears, so there is an opening for regulatory tradeoffs on both sides of the Atlantic. Politico says the U.S., is an agricultural powerhouse that has seen its share of the EU market shrink steadily for decades. The trade deficit with Europe topped $2 billion in 1989 and evolved into a $15 billion deficit in 2019.

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