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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union plans to allow more U.S. beef imports cleared a key hurdle on Monday when EU lawmakers specializing in trade backed the move, which is likely to ease transatlantic tensions.

FILE PHOTO: Cuts of USDA prime dry-aged beef are seen in the dry-aging room in the lobby of Gallaghers steakhouse in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

Members of the parliaments international trade committee voted 26-7, with four abstentions, for an agreement that will see U.S. farmers take up the majority of an existing 45,000-tonne allotment.

The whole of the European Parliament will vote on the deal on Thursday, but it is widely expected to follow the lead of its trade committee. If approved, increased shipments of U.S. beef should start at the beginning of 2020.

The message of this agreement is clear: we would like to de-escalate trade tensions with the U.S., but we want to see the same efforts of de-escalation on the other side of the Atlantic, said Bernd Lange, the head of parliaments trade committee.

He said that the two sides still needed to find a solution to a dispute over subsidies to Airbus (AIR.PA) and Boeing Co (BA.N) and to the U.S. tariffs applied to EU steel, aluminum and olives.

The agreement on beef is designed to settle a dispute that dates back to 1981 when the European Union banned the use of growth hormones in meat across the bloc, including in imports.

The EU and the United States eventually concluded an agreement in 2009 to grant a quota for hormone-free beef imports, which currently stands at 45,000 tonnes.

However, under World Trade Organization rules, the quota also had to be made available to non-U.S. suppliers.

Exporters from Australia and Uruguay, and more recently Argentina, decided to sell into the quota, pushing the U.S. share from nearly 100% to 30%.

Under the deal, to which the other countries had to agree, U.S. farmers will gain an initial 18,500 tonnes of the quota, rising to 35,000 tonnes after seven years.

Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Lisa Shumaker

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EU on course to allow in more U.S. beef from 2020 - Reuters

President Donald Trump was supposed to make a decision by Nov. 14 on whether to take action against imports of automobiles and auto parts from the EU.

But with the deadline passed, questions are now being raised over whether he can continue using Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to take any future tariff action. The previously little-used provision allows the president to impose trade restrictions if imports are considered a threat to national security.

An investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 would be potentially more sweeping and would subject numerous European industries, subsidies and other programs to scrutiny. The move would also effectively terminate the national security investigation.

Section 301, which also has been little used by previous administrations, allows the president to impose trade restrictions if an investigation finds that a country is engaged in a practice that is unjustifiable and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.

Trump used the Section 301 provision to justify wave-after-wave of tariffs on China after an investigation by the U.S. Trade Representatives Office found that Beijing's policies on technology transfer and intellectual property burden or restrict U.S. commerce.

Those briefed on the latest matter said it wasn't clear which EU trade policies that the administration would target in any inquiry, and whether autos are still the main target of Trump's potential actions.

Trump has consistently complained that the EU imposes a 10 percent tariff on vehicles while the U.S. only has a 2.5 percent import duty on passenger cars. Hes also argued that the current transatlantic trade relationship is unfair because the United States has a $151 billion trade deficit in goods with the EU.

Many countries charge us extraordinarily high tariffs or create impossible trade barriers. Impossible, Trump said last week in an economic policy speech in New York. And Ill be honest: European Union very, very difficult. The barriers they have up are terrible. Terrible. In many ways, worse than China.

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office, which would be responsible for launching a new Section 301 investigation, did not respond to an inquiry on the potential action. The Commerce Department, which is in charge of Section 232 investigations, referred questions to USTR and the White House.

Already, Trump has faced enormous pressure for trying to use national security justification to pursue tariffs on allies.

Trump invoked such a provision to justify duties on steel and aluminum imports that began last year. The law was invoked again to investigate the national security risk posed by imports of automobiles.

Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Japan were able to escape steel and aluminum duties after negotiating trade deals with the U.S., but EU auto imports have remained in the administrations cross hairs.

Section 232 gives the president a 180-day time limit to negotiate agreements to address any national security concerns, if he decides to punt on imposing tariffs, but it doesnt require an announcement, said Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer submitted a report to the president last week providing Trump an update on the European negotiations, but a decision was never made.

A recent court ruling has raised questions about whether Trump's failure to make a decision by the deadline nullifies his use of the law to threaten auto tariffs.

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled last week that Trump violated a separate Section 232 deadline when he tried to double steel duties on Turkey in August 2018 after a 90-day deadline.

Trump has since reduced the steel tariffs on Turkey back to their original level of 25 percent but the ruling provides the first instance of a court pushing back on the presidents use of the law.

The presidents expansive view of his power under section 232 is mistaken, and at odds with the language of the statute, its legislative history, and its purpose, the court wrote in a Nov. 15 opinion.

Critics of Trumps use of the statute have held up the ruling as a clear indication that the window for tariffs has closed.

As a recent U.S. trade court opinion stated, the presidents authority to impose national security tariffs or other import restrictions under Section 232 is not indefinite, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said. With the 180-day deadline having passed, the window for new national security taxes on imported automobiles has closed.

Legal experts say the ruling also puts firmer ground under future challenges to any action Trump might take now on auto tariffs against the EU.

I strongly believe if the president were to impose tariffs now, there would unequivocally be legal challenges, said Jennifer Hillman, a Georgetown University law professor who previously served as a WTO judge and general counsel at USTR.

They could be at substantial risk of losing that one, she added.

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Exclusive: Trump weighs new trade investigation to justify tariffs on EU - Politico

The Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, as seen in 2016. Europol announced Monday that over 26,000 items related to terrorist propaganda were removed from the internet. Mike Corder/AP hide caption

The Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, as seen in 2016. Europol announced Monday that over 26,000 items related to terrorist propaganda were removed from the internet.

In a major blow to terrorist radicalization efforts, European law enforcement agencies have stripped Islamic State propaganda from popular online services such as Google and Twitter.

Over 26,000 items, which included videos, publications, social media accounts and communication channels, were flagged by authorities as being terrorist propaganda. Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, sent those items to several online service providers for removal.

"For the time being, for as far as we know, IS is not present on the internet anymore and we will see how fast, if ever, they will regain service," Belgian Federal Prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt said at a press conference Monday.

Authorities said that services such as Google, Twitter, Instagram and Telegram cooperated with the European-wide efforts to disrupt terrorist activities. Telegram, an online messaging platform used by about 200 million users, contained the most offending material, which resulted in a "significant portion of key actors within the IS network" being removed from the service.

As part of the operation, an individual suspected of distributing terrorist propaganda was arrested in the Canary Islands by Spanish police. Head of Counter Terrorism of the Spanish Guardia Civil Alberto Rodrguez Vzquez said the individual self-radicalized himself and others.

"His role in the dissemination is in the process of being established, but evidence points to the indoctrination of other individuals in his place of residence, where he exerted a sort of religious authority," Rodrguez said.

These latest actions are part of an ongoing effort by E.U. member states to disrupt the communication networks of terrorist organizations.

In April 2018, law enforcement agencies of the E.U., Canada and the United States seized servers and data from the IS, forcing it to rely heavily on online social media and messaging services.

"This shift to online service providers allowed Europol and investigators in Member States to focus their work on the social media networks used by the IS media operatives, resulting in the actions day of November 2019," Europol said in a statement.

According to the BBC, a pro-IS media group said the takedown campaign may drive sympathizers underground where it is harder for authorities to monitor terrorist activity.

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Islamic State 'Not Present On The Internet Anymore' Following European Operation - NPR

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to "get Brexit done" by the end of 2020 risks creating "the biggest crisis of Brexit to date," the United Kingdom's former ambassador to the European Union has warned.

Johnson has insisted that he will not extend the Brexit transition period beyond its current end date of December 2020, meaning UK and EU negotiators will have less than 12 months to secure a brand new free trade deal.

The transition period is designed to give businesses and people time to prepare for life outside of the EU. During that time, the UK will continue to follow EU trading rules.

Failure to secure a deal will mean that Britain will drop out onto costly World Trade Organisation Rules at the end of the transition period, which the government's own analysis suggests would cause significant damage to the economy.

Rogers, who resigned as the UK's most senior representative to the EU in 2017, said Johnson's "get Brexit done" approach meant a fresh crisis in 2020 was "virtually inevitable," as there won't be enough time to negotiate a new trade deal.

"It all points to a repetition of exactly the syndrome we have suffered for the last three [years]," Rogers said in a lecture at Glasgow University on Monday evening.

"And a repetition of myopia on which ultimately lands us with a poor and deteriorating relationship on multiple things that really matter, economically and strategically."

He described Johnson's plan as "diplomatic amateurism dressed up domestically as boldness and decisiveness."

Rogers said the prime minister's insistence that he will not extend the transition period despite the risk of severe economic consequences would leave him boxed in when trade talks with the EU get underway.

"In practice, this prime minister is, for all his talk of getting Brexit done, now basically replicating the strategy errors of 2016 and 2017, which brought his predecessor [Theresa May] down," Rogers said.

The former civil servant said the prime minister will likely make "a lot of concessions" in trade talks because a short timetable will give Brussels even more leverage in negotiations.

He said: "Because we are under time pressure and known to be desperate to 'escape vassalage' by the end of 202... the EU side just sees a huge open goal opportunity and repeats its playbook from the Article 50 process."

If the UK leaves the EU on January 31, it'll have just eleven months to negotiate a new trade deal.

However, both sides will also need to ratify the agreement. On the EU side, this means getting it through the European Council, European Parliament, and national and regional parliaments across the EU27 member states.

The EU's negotiations with both the Ukraine and South Korea each took nearly a decade. Its recent negotiation with Canada took nearly eight years, and was briefly held up by a regional parliament in Wallonia, Belgium.

IvanRogers, Britain's former Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union, leaves the The Houses of Parliament after giving evidence to a parliamentary sub-committee, in London, Britain February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall

Rogers has been a vocal critic of the UK government's handling of Brexit since quitting his position.

Earlier this year, he told Business Insider that there might eventually be a public inquiry into how politicians handled Britain's exit from the EU.

He also rubbished talk of a "clean break" Brexit, and said the UK would be in negotiations for years.

"We are going to be negotiating on everything from aviation to farming for evermore with our biggest neighbour. We cannot live in glorious isolation," he said at a talk earlier this year.

"Talk to the Swiss and to the Norwegians they live in a permanent state of negotiation with the EU."

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Boris Johnson's 'amateurism' risks the 'biggest crisis of Brexit' yet, says the UK's former chief EU diplomat - Business Insider

Ireland is wooing Indian companies that have plans of going global, especially if they are targeting the European Union, to set up operations in the country. With the UK exiting the European Union, Indian companies can use Ireland to tap into the larger European market, according to Brendan Ward, Irelands Ambassador in India.

Not every Indian company would wish to leave the United Kingdom after Brexit. Many of them were established specifically for the British market. But those that have European interests and that are looking at the wider European market, then a location in Ireland might very well make sense. A lot of them are looking at that at the moment. We are in contact with those who we think might benefit from having a presence in Ireland, Ambassador Ward, who assumed office in August, told BusinessLine here.

The Ambassador and his economic team met some Chennai-based companies last week, explaining to them the benefits of establishing a base in Ireland. Around 100 Indian companies already have operations in Ireland, according to Ward.

There is a substantial Indian population 35,000-40,000 in Ireland, accounting for almost 1 per cent of the countrys population. It means that there is a critical mass to allow community events, cultural and social events...slightly better Indian restaurants than we have had in the past, says Ward.

Some of the sectors that are important in Ireland are agriculture and food, pharmaceuticals, ICT, life sciences, financial services, future mobility and technologies such as artificial intelligence. These sectors are important to the Indian economy too and hence there are possibilities of synergies and for exchanges through research initiatives, according to him.

On his meeting with Chennai-based companies, Ward said most of them were quite positively disposed. What we focussed on in the meetings was in advising them of the advantages and how they could benefit if they were going to globalise, if they are looking to have a footprint in Europe, if they are interested in research cooperation, he said.

There are Irish Government agencies, with offices in Mumbai, that can assist Indian companies in setting up operations in the country.

Ireland, Ward said, offers a few advantages which many other European States dont, such as a competitive tax system and a very clear and simple one. Also, somewhat easier labour laws than many other European Union States. Of course, we have high standards for the protection of workers, but some of the measures in other European Union member States make for a very inflexible labour market. We do promote flexibility and a business-friendly atmosphere.

There are over 5,000 Indian students studying in universities and colleges in Ireland. This year, around 2,000 Indian students have gone to study in Ireland and the number is increasing every year.

The education system in Ireland is similar to that in Britain. Ireland, according to the Ambassador, offers students the opportunity of working for two years after they graduate; they can do part-time work even as a student to pay a part of their education expenses.

Besides, there are a lot of research collaborations between Indian companies and Irish universities.

Bilateral trade between Ireland and India was growing at a healthy rate. In 2018, overall trade in goods was about $1 billion, with the balance in Indias favour. However, trade in services was around $3 billion, heavily weighed in Irelands favour. This, the Ambassador said, was not a matter of concern for either of the countries.

Ward said Ireland could do a lot more to attract India film producers looking for exotic locales to choose the country for their films.

This, in turn, would push up tourism from India. Ireland had a fairly vibrant film industry. There was a lot of cooperation in post-production work, especially in special effects, between Indian film producers and Irish companies.

On the long-drawn discussions over a free trade agreement between the EU and India, the Ambassador said the positions of the EU and India were still far apart and work was going on to bridge those gaps, with agriculture being one of the major sticking points. He hoped that there would be significant progress in the discussions before the EU-India summit slated for next year.

We would like to see significant progress on the FTA and use the summit as an opportunity to give it a boost. But the current state of negotiations doesnt indicate that is likely, he added.

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Post Brexit, India can use Ireland as window to EU: Envoy - BusinessLine