Europe's claim to be the global champion of open trade and a counterweight to the threatened protectionism of U.S. President Donald Trump risks ringing hollow if it cannot sign a new Pacific free trade deal by the end of 2017.
The European Union is seeing increased impetus around the world to move forward with Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the bloc, which will make the most of the uncertainty over the outlook for U.S. trade policy, the EU's trade envoy said on Friday.
Ministers from 12 European Union countries have written to the bloc's trade chief to back a planned trade accord with the United States, declaring clear support for negotiations that have divided opinion on both sides of the Atlantic.
The European Union's executive said today it had a unanimous mandate from the bloc's 28 members to finalize negotiations on a free trade deal with the United States, a day after Germany's economy minister said the talks had "de facto failed".
