U.S. seeks limited trade deal with E.U. as Trump’s deadline approaches

U.S. and European negotiators continue to haggle over a skeletal trade deal that would defer a resolution of their toughest commercial disputes.

The prospective accord would spare European goods the 50 percent tariffs that Trump has threatened to impose.

Trump ’s decision to pursue his goals by ignoring the global trading rules that American leaders helped to write marks a significant break with decades of American policy.

Almost everything about Trump ’s approach to trade clashes with European preferences.

Germany , a top exporting nation, seeks an early deal with Washington while France prefers to take a tougher line.

Trump has publicly opined that the European Union , which grew out of post-World War II efforts by France and Germany , was actually set up “to screw” the U.S ..

He wants to stand up with his two pages and say this is the greatest trade deal with Europe that anybody’s ever seen,” he said. “What’s in those two pages doesn’t matter nearly as much as him being able to say we made a deal.”.