Readout of Deputy United States Trade Representative Sapiro’s meeting with European Commission Director General for Trade Demarty

Deputy United States Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro and European Commission Director General for Trade Jean-Luc Demarty, together with their USTR and Trade Directorate teams, met February 21 and 22 to review progress and plan next steps in the work of the U.S.-EU High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth (HLWG), which was established by U.S. and EU Leaders during their Summit meeting on November 28, 2011. Consistent with the Leaders’ mandate, USTR and Trade Directorate issue leads, in consultation with their colleagues in other agencies and services, have been working since December to identify and assess the economic value, feasibility, and international implications of a range of options for increasing transatlantic trade, investment, jobs, and growth. During their meetings this week, Ambassador Sapiro and Director General Demarty reviewed the status of ongoing discussions on options and directed their teams to accelerate their work on analyzing priority options. They agreed to continue their close coordination and plan to meet again in person in Brussels within the next two months.