US and EU finally begin talks on free trade deal

The US and the EU, after nearly two years of preparation, started talks yesterday aimed at securing a free trade agreement to squeeze new economic growth out of the world’s largest trade and investment relationship.

“We go into these negotiations with the goal of achieving the broadest possible, most comprehensive agreement that we can,” US trade representative Mike Froman told Reuters.

But in the months since President Barack Obama and European leaders announced a decision to pursue a landmark trade deal, revelations about US government surveillance of phone and internet records have cast a shadow over the start of talks.