The United States asks the European Union to make unbalanced trade concessions, which may trigger European Union countermeasures

On June 21, the United States asked the European Union to make unilateral concessions that European Union officials see as lopsided in US-EU trade talks. If the terms of a potential deal do not improve, the European Union will make a difficult decision on whether to take countermeasures. The best-case scenario remains an agreement on principles that would allow negotiations to continue beyond an early July deadline, according to people familiar with the matter. Washington's demands fall into three categories. The first category is measures related to fish export quotas, which European Union officials say may be inconsistent with WTO rules. The second category is non-reciprocal tariff-related measures. The third category is a series of economic security requirements that European Union officials describe as far-fetched. Even with a deal, many of Mr. Trump's tariffs would remain in place, people familiar with the matter said. The European Union, which has been seeking a mutually beneficial deal, will assess any end result and decide at that stage how much asymmetry, if any, it is willing to accept.