White House reveals US-EU trade deal to cut tariffs

After weeks of heated negotiations, Brussels and Washington finally reached a trade agreement late last month, setting a 15% total fee for EU exports to the US.

Under the deal, the EU also pledged to buy American energy worth $750 billion and invest at least $600 billion in the US, broadcast Telegrafi.

Many political and business leaders in Europe at the time expressed concerns about the lack of balance of the agreement. Some questions remained unanswered, including which tax rate would apply to some goods US President Donald Trump has hit with sectoral obligations.

Thursday's announcement finally provided more details at a time when many other business partners still wait and negotiate similar clarity on their respective trade agreements with the US.

The key points in the statement include US commitment to “implemented highest among the US Most fascist Nation's fee (MFN) or a 15 per cent tariff, consisting of the MPN tariff and a reciprocal fee, for goods originating by the European Union”.

As of September 1st, the United States will apply only the MFN tariffs for several goods from the EU, including <x0). Unresponsible natural resources (including cork), all aircraft and aircraft parts, genetic pharmaceuticals and their components and chemical predecessors”.

Some so-called 232 section tariffs have been limited to the wider fee rate of 15%, including those for timber, semi-reference and pharmaceutical products, according to a senior US administration official.

This is obviously below the rates Trump has ever threatened, as well as a 100% tax on semi-referencers. Meanwhile, the statement noted that the EU aims to eliminate tariffs for all US industrial goods and offer preferential access to the market for a wide range of US sea products and agricultural goods.

The statement also includes knowledge of EU promises of purchase and energy investments, which previously raised questions about their feasibility and about possible consequences if commitments are not materialised.

The latest announcement reiterated the figures for the EU's planned spending, including artificial intelligence chips, energy and wider investment in the US, but described them as targeted and expected, instead of being guaranteed commitments, a senior administration official stressed.

Thursday's statement also noted plans for the EU to increase “significantly” procurement of US military and defence equipment, even though Europe has pledged to boost its defence capabilities.

It is noteworthy that the recent agreement does not bring changes to the EU's digital services act, which includes regulations for major technology companies and has long been a controversial point in the trade talks on Trump.

Europe's pharmaceutical sector ) the main US source for pharmaceutical imports will also see limited tariffs of up to 15%. The critical issue is that the rate will not be added above other tariffs across the EU.

On September 1st, the Trump administration has also agreed to implement its MFN drug prices policy only for genetic pharmaceutical products. The directive aims to lower the prices of medicines in the US by linking them to usually lower prices paid by other developed countries.

In April, the Trump administration had launched a so-called 232 Department investigation into pharmaceutical products to examine the impact of imports on national security. In recent weeks, Trump threatened taxes of up to 250% in the pharmaceutical sector and sent an ultimatum to large firms, demanding that drug prices be lowered in the US.

The White House leader has long criticised the sector for what he has long called anti-x0 abuse practices” of prices, while at the same time encouraging firms to shift their production operations to the United States in an effort to strengthen domestic production.

This triggered a host of US investment commitments over the past few months, including those from Novatitis, AstraZeneca and Roche, as well as price arrangements from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

The US and EU said on Thursday they had agreed to a 15% conditional fee for European vehicles and parts of vehicles destined for the US, but only after Brussels presents legislation to lower their industrial obligations, according to a senior administration official.

The official added that only the introduction of EU legislation to lower the rate of industrial tariffs would be sufficient to start this compromise.

“In terms of automobiles, the United States and the European Union aim to accept and provide mutual recognition of each other's standards”, the US and the EU said in a joint statement released Thursday.

Under the terms of the trade framework reached at the end of July, the EU said it would eliminate low “dues” for industrial goods from the US.

Speaking late last month, Trump had welcomed the framework agreement first uncovered as the biggest trade deal ever made and one promising to be excellent “for cars”.

The prospect of a 15% fee for cars and car parts represents a significant decrease from the US president's threat to impose 30% tariffs. Also, it almost bisects the existing fee rate for the automobile sector in Europe by 27.5%.

Industry groups had earlier expressed deep concern over the costs related to the reality of tariffs.

The German Automobile Industry Association “, which represents more than 620 companies involved in the German automotive sector, warned that an American fee of 15% for automobile products would túw “cost German automobile companies billions annually and would impose a burden on them in the midst of their transformation”. /Periscopi