*By Alisha Haridasani* President Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. will work towards barriers-free trade with the EU, seemingly deescalating tensions that had been weighing on lawmakers, investors, and consumers for weeks. "We agreed today, first of all, to work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies," said Trump, after meeting with the European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker at the White House. The deal would apply to non-auto industrial goods, services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical products, and agriculture. The EU will buy more soy beans, an agricultural product that has been hit hard by the tit-for-tat trade spat, as well as increase the amount of liquefied natural gas it imports from the U.S. The U.S. in return will "resolve" the steel and aluminium tariffs it imposed on the EU in May. "I had the intention to make a deal today, and we made a deal today," said Junker in the joint press conference. "As long as we are negotiating...we hold off on further tariffs." The news came on the same day tensions with the EU seemed to reach a boiling point, as the bloc threatened to tax more American goods if the Trump administration were to go forward with a proposed 20 percent tax on European cars. On Tuesday, Trump signed off on a $12 billion bailout package for American farmers affected by tariffs, suggesting he doesn't expect anyone to pull back. The emergency relief package is “a firm statement that other nations cannot bully our agricultural producers to force the United States to cave in,” said Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Tuesday. In response to all the back and forth on trade, several manufacturing companies have tempered their yearly outlooks as tariffs start to pinch profits and raise production costs. General Motors, which posted earnings before the start of trading on Wednesday, lowered its earnings forecast for the year by $1 billion, citing unfavorable exchange rates, but also the rising costs of steel and aluminium. Trump imposed tariffs on foreign metals in May, causing local producers to increase prices. Shares of the company were down by more than 6 percent on the news. Whirlpool also took a hit from the rising metals prices. The appliance company on Monday slashed its expectations for the year, lowering its free cash flow outlook from over $1 billion to roughly [$850 million](http://investors.whirlpoolcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/whirlpool-corporation-reports-second-quarter-2018-results?mod=article_inline). “The global steel costs have risen substantially, and in particular, in the U.S., they have reached unexplainable levels,” CEO Marc Blitzer told [analysts](https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/24/news/companies/whirlpool-washing-machines-trump-tariffs/index.html). The news sent Whirlpool’s shares down 14 percent on Tuesday, the stock's worst performance in over three decades.
