The U.S. and the European Union have begun working-level procedures to launch free trade negotiations.

At a closing news conference at the G20 Summit in Mexico, U.S. President Barack Obama said that the U.S. and the EU agreed to take working-level steps to formally determine whether or not to launch free trade negotiations later this year.

Working-level groups of the two sides in a report said that a comprehensive bilateral trade deal that removes tariff barriers for products and services will lead to economic growth and more jobs. They also called for concrete proposals that will narrow the regulatory differences between the two sides.