Europe gives staffers in US burner phones due to spying concerns

It's a practice normally reserved for diplomats in Russia and China

The European Commission is giving burner phones and laptops to its staff members coming to the United States

According to a report in the Financial Times, commissioners and senior officials coming to Washington, D.C. next week

for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings were given the new guidance out of concern their standard IT kit could be susceptible to surveillance

One EU official told the FT they are worried about the U.S. getting into the Commission's systems

In addition to the burner devices for work, they're being told to turn off their personal devices while in the country

and place them in a special sleeve that prevents spying when left unattended

In a statement, the Commission confirmed to the outlet that it had updated its security advice for the United States

but no specific instructions regarding burner devices were put in writing. The U and E are trying to come to an agreement on tariffs before they both impose retaliatory measures President Trump placed a 20 percent reciprocal tariff on the EU but lowered it to 10 percent for 90 days so they could try to reach

a deal. The EU did the same, suspending its 25 percent tariff on $21 billion worth of U.S. exports

until mid-July. Top EU commissioners have been meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard

Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamison Greer in an attempt to make a deal. It's unclear how

much progress they've made. As per the burner phones, this isn't the first time the U.S. has

been accused of this type of espionage. In 2013, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called out

President Obama after she discovered the United States may have spied on her mobile phone

The allegations were made after contractor Edward Snowden leaked information to the public

regarding spying operations at the National Security Agency. Eventually, President Obama publicly apologized and said he'd work to restore the confidence of U.S. allies who were

revealed to be targeted