BRUSSELS — The European Union needs to redress a $10-12 billion imbalance in farm produce trade with the United States and adapt its food safety rules to reflect “sound science,” the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture said on Monday. The U.S. trade deficit in agriculture was not logical given the EU had almost double the number of consumers as the United States and only two-thirds of the arable land, Perdue said. Agriculture has proved a block in U.S.-EU trade talks, with Brussels resisting Washington’s demand that it be included. We don’t use chlorine any more to treat chicken,” Perdue told reporters, pointing to EU acceptance of washing salad with chlorine. The United States and the EU are already locked in a tit-for-tat tariff dispute that could escalate if Trump follows through with a threat to hit EU cars.

Source: National Post January 27, 2020 14:26 UTC