Spanish minister optimistic on 'fair' US-EU trade deal after meeting Bessent

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Tuesday he was convinced the United States and European Union would negotiate a fair trade deal after meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington.

Cuerpo said his counterpart sent a "clear message" that confirmed the "open door to negotiation that was already opened last week with the 90-day moratorium".

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The U.S. is the EU's largest trading partner for exports, with a daily trans-Atlantic exchange of goods and services worth around 4.4 billion euros ($5.1 billion).

Those trade flows were threatened earlier this month after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed "reciprocal" 20% tariffs on the EU on top of prior 25% duties on steel, aluminium and car imports.

CONTEXT

Last week, Trump abruptly paused most tariffs on global trading partners for 90 days, dialing back duty rates on goods from many countries to allow room to negotiate lower trade barriers.

As Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited China, Bessent warned that moving closer to the Asian country would be "cutting your own throat", a comment rejected by Spanish officials.

KEY QUOTES

"We're convinced that, with (EU Trade) Commissioner (Maros) Sefcovic leading the European negotiation, we'll be able to reach an agreement that is balanced, fair and beneficial to both sides," Cuerpo said.

Regarding his "very constructive and very useful" meeting with Bessent, Cuerpo said they had an "open and frank conversation on all current aspects of the international economy, including the relations between the U.S. and Spain as well as between the EU and some of the most important economic players such as China".

($1 = 0.8861 euros)

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Sandra Maler)