Sen. Mike Lee, EU ambassador weigh in on Trump tariffs

The ambassador of the European Union to the United States urged a quick resolution to trade negotiations during a visit to Utah on Friday.

Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė said in an interview with the Deseret News that whatever deal emerges from the 90-day pause on the Trump administration’s “reciprocal” tariffs must be “mutually beneficial” for the U.S. and European nations because “it’s always a two-way street.”

“We have to avoid putting pain on both sides of the Atlantic and the faster, or the more constructive, we have those conversations on how to move over this phase, the better,” Neliupšienė said following a meeting with World Trade Center Utah.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee, in an interview with the Deseret News, also said, “It’s got to be a two-way street.”

The senator, who has long been outspoken about the need to adjust the U.S.-EU defense relationship, said he would be supportive of a deal that increases market access for U.S. businesses in Europe and reduces European reliance on America’s security umbrella.

Within the last few days, Lee said he heard President Donald Trump suggest that the administration is in the process of negotiating multiple bilateral trade agreements with countries that have been subject to new tariffs.

“The potential upside is something that could benefit us for many decades to come in a very real way,” Lee said on Friday. “When you lower tariffs and you lower trade barriers, generally, you’re going to have more trade and that’s going to be good for the American economy.”

But he said there is also a risk that Trump’s tactics to bring partners to the negotiating table could result in a diplomatic back-and-forth that hurts the U.S. economy and increases, rather than decreases, protectionist policies around the globe.

“I think in a trade war, there are no winners. Everyone has the potential to end up being worse off if this escalates into a trade war type of a situation,” Lee said. “I’m not a believer in trade protectionism. I don’t think that’s good.”

Trade negotiations with the EU

Neliupšienė’s discussion with Utah business leaders came at the end of a busy week for U.S.-EU relations.

On Monday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a graduate of Brigham Young University, met with EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who said that “significant joint efforts” must take place to arrive at a trade deal before higher tariffs return in mid-July.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House, where Trump said there is a “100%” chance his administration will make a “fair deal” with Europe in coming days.

Uncertainty has dominated the U.S.-EU relationship since Trump revealed a new 20% tariff on imports from the EU as part of his “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2.

The tariff rate aims to reduce trade deficits that the Trump administration says are caused by tariffs, regulations and monetary manipulation by its trading partners.

But just hours after the trade regime went into effect on April 9, Trump announced a three-month hold on reciprocal tariffs as dozens of countries approached the administration to negotiate new trade deals.

The EU subsequently paused retaliatory 20% tariffs on U.S. imports, even as the U.S. maintained a 10% baseline tariff and 25% tariff on steel, aluminum and automotive imports from the EU.

EU ambassador meets with Utah leaders

Neliupšienė has been in Utah amid this upheaval in international trade, meeting with Utah’s congressional delegation, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, university administrators at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, and business executives at World Trade Center Utah over the past two weeks.

“I do believe that the fundamental of transatlantic relations between EU and U.S. actually lies with people-to-people contact,” Neliupšienė said on Friday. “The trade relations, or the company investments, they are happening on the local level.”

Neliupšienė’s conclusion after meeting with Utah officials and executives is that there is a shared interest in fostering cooperation as subnational governments wait for foreign policy decisions to play out.

“There is a huge belief that the closer we are, the more beneficial it is for all of us,” Neliupšienė said.

Utah leads the way on international relationships

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has taken a “wait-and-see” approach to Trump’s implementation of the largest tariff increase in at least 80 years. In the meantime, Cox has also led out on strengthening ties with longtime allies.

Last week, Cox became the first governor to lead a trade mission to Canada since the onset of the trade war with one of the country’s closest allies, telling top Canadian officials and investors that Utah is “open for business.”

Cox’s delegation met with government agencies and industry experts in Quebec and Ontario to signal Utah’s desire to forge additional economic ties in the areas of critical minerals and artificial intelligence.

During his monthly televised broadcast on Thursday, Cox said these relationships are essential to his goal of building more housing, tech and manufacturing opportunities in the state.

“When we talk about building Utah’s future, I believe that subnational and international partnerships are an extremely important part of that vision,” Cox said. “International trade isn’t just about what we sell, it’s about who we partner with and what kind of future we’re shaping.”

Cox plans to send a letter to fellow governors next week, encouraging them to lead their own trade missions to Canada, and he expects more will follow his lead, he said.

However, trade missions are unlikely to diminish the impact of tariffs on many Utah businesses, according to Cox.

Smaller companies will be “hit the hardest,” Cox said, referring to several Utah manufacturers that thought they were immune to tariffs but have been hurt because certain components or materials have gone up in price.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and World Trade Center Utah have been doing what they can to help impacted companies find new suppliers and cheaper ways to make their products, Cox said.

Despite the market turmoil, Cox said he’s “supportive” of the concept behind Trump’s tariff policies because there are pieces of the global manufacturing supply chain that need to be reevaluated.

“I’m grateful that we have an administration that’s willing to look at this,” Cox said. “We just need to get this nailed down as quickly as possible.”

Importance of international trade relationships

Trump’s strategy of forcing countries to negotiate with tariffs has the potential to temporarily benefit the U.S. economy, said Quinn Mecham, a professor of political science and international relations at Brigham Young University.

America has unmatched economic power that could allow it to coerce less powerful countries to form more favorable deals, Mecham said.

But this strategy, according to Mecham, might neglect the important role trust plays in enduring economic success, because in a globalized economy, the U.S. must inevitably rely on foreign countries with different specializations.

“International trade is dependent on expectations of stability,” Mecham told the Deseret News. “That volatility, the sense of a loss of collaboration and damage to interstate and interpersonal relationships, is likely to have long-term negative effects on trade, investment and growth that will come back to hurt the United States.”

As the world adjusts to America’s new foreign policy stance, the possibility of a recession has “gone up significantly,” Cox said on Thursday.

The governor has asked state agencies to make contingency plans for a recession and to be more cautious with their budgets as a new fiscal year begins in July.

“Whether you think trade wars are good or bad, or will lead to something better, everybody agrees that it’s going to cause pain in the short term, and we have to be ready for that,” Cox said.