EU member states authorize the European Commission to negotiate with the United States the import of hormone-free beef. The two economic power blocks have a long-running conflict about the amount of meat that US producers are allowed to export to the EU.
For global imports of hormone-free beef in the EU, a maximum quota of 45,000 tonnes per year applies. That total quantity is not a subject of increase, but the US should be able to deliver a larger share.
Washington had asked two years ago to review the quota again. The ban on the import of hormone-treated meat to the EI remains in force.
The step fits in with the efforts of both parties to improve trade relations. Since the President Donald Trump introduced import duties on steel and aluminum this summer and the EU took countermeasures with taxes on US products, the transatlantic tensions have increased. Negotiations on mutually lowering trade tariffs are stiff.