Negotiators for a bilateral trade and investment pact between the EU and US are hoping to strike a deal before US President Barack Obama leaves office in early 2017, with officials reporting a major milestone on Friday in their talks on goods market access. The two sides exchanged second tariff offers last week in Miami, Florida, during a meeting which marked their eleventh round of talks since the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations were launched over two years ago. The new offers came over a year and a half since initial offers were exchanged in February 2014. At the time, the EU had criticised the US submission for not being as ambitious as had been hoped. (See Bridges Weekly, 20 February 2014 ) “Both sides are now on a comparable level in terms of tariff line coverage,” said EU chief negotiator Ignacio García-Bercero. “This is an important step as our aim is to eliminate the vast majority of tariffs from day one of entry into force of the agreement.” The new offers reportedly cover 97 percent of tariff lines for both sides, with officials welcoming the milestone itself as well as the offers’ content. “We had a first...