Trump believes EU trade deal needs to go beyond zero tariffs on autos: Official

Although European Union officials have said they are supportive of lowering tariffs on automobiles to zero if the U.S. reciprocates, President Trump believes this is not a stand-alone issue or trade deal, according to a senior diplomatic official.

After months of back-and-forth, retaliatory tariffs between the U.S. and the European bloc, Trump wants to see all tariffs removed on all industries, including agriculture, steel aluminum and medical equipment, according to the official.

"We are willing to bring down even our car tariffs to zero, all tariffs to zero, if the U.S. does the same," European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told members of the European Parliament on Thursday in Brussels.

But according to Politico, Malmstrom has said that agriculture would not be included in this deal, and because of this, the White House is not celebrating the comments made today by Malmstrom.

U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell began a successful push in Germany to get their auto industry on board with lowering tariffs. At the time, one of the outstanding questions was whether other major European auto players would join the call for zero tariffs. But according to FOX Business’ Blake Burman, the Italians and the French are now supportive of lowering the tax.

FOX Business' Blake Burman contributed to this report.