EU and US meet to scope out talks amid growing trade uncertainty

The first face-to-face meeting between the EU and the United States since the White House imposed tariffs on imports to the US will take place on Monday when EU trade commissioner MaroÅ¡ Å efčovič meets commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and US trade officials in Washington, DC. EU countries including Ireland will be watching anxiously for a sign that substantive negotiations with the US to avoid a damaging trade war can begin soon - but this weekend senior officials in Dublin and Brussels were hopeful, rather than confident of this. Dublin is especially concerned that pharmaceuticals - which comprise the great bulk…