EU-US tariff agreement: What should you know?

During Tuesday night on Wednesday, EU negotiators agreed to legal proposals aimed at implementing the EU-US trade agreement. This agreement is seen as an important step in implementing the European Union's Turnberry Agreement.

What's the Tourism Agreement?

Last summer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyeen and Donald Trump reached an agreement in Turnberry, Scotland, on the Trump golf course.

In essence, the agreement envisions the US setting tariffs of up to 15% for most EU products. In exchange, the EU will fully lift tariffs for American industrial products and facilitate access to the European market for some American fishing and agricultural products.

What has happened since?

For the EU to fulfil its part of the agreement, new legislation must be adopted. Early Wednesday morning, the relevant European institutions agreed to a legal act. Parliament negotiated the inclusion of certain conditions in the future European law.

What conditions did the European Parliament involve?

In particular, the deal is associated with a “west statement”. According to this clause, the agreement will be implemented only until the end of 2029, but it can be extended.

A safeguard clause aims to allow the suspension of the deal if increased tariffs continue to apply to aluminum and steel products after December 31, 2026.

A defence mechanism is also intended to prevent serious damage caused by increased imports of American products. To that end, the European Commission must publish a quarterly report on trade volumes trends between the EU and the US.

What's the next step?

The agreement still calls for final approval by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Organisation representing 27 member states. The European Parliament appointed vote for mid-June.

European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen, who had negotiated the initial agreement, welcomed this result: “This means that soon we will fulfil our part of the Joint EU-US Declaration, as promised,” she wrote on X. The two lawmakers are expected to complete the procedure quickly.

Together, they can provide a stable, predictable, balanced and mutually profitable <x0).

However, it remains to be seen how the US views these new conditions. Within the EU, there is confidence that the American government will accept them. A European Commission spokesman said Wednesday that discussions were continuing at a fast pace, DW reports, broadcasts Periscope.

The American government is waiting for this deal, and the EU assumes that even there will be a “good news”.

What took so long?

Within the EU it is stressed that this is a normal process of lawmakers. However, the legislative process was suspended twice because of Donald Trump's threats to Greenland and the decision by the US Supreme Court, which annulled the legal basis for the American tariffs on which the agreement was based.

Following Donald Trump's threat in early May to raise vehicle tariffs and set July 4th for the EU to implement the agreement, pressure on the EU increased.

What hopes are associated with this agreement?

The Turnberry Agreement between Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen has been criticised, especially by the Eurodeputs, as unfair. I wouldn't call this a good deal yet no,” said on Wednesday, Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament Trade Commission.

During his press conference Wednesday, the Social Democrat also referred to the situation in which Ursula von der Leyeen was located at the time the agreement was reached. According to Lange, Donald Trump had thus linked his tariff requirements to the issue of increasing American support for Ukraine.

The European Commission regularly emphasises the importance of this agreement, which aims to ensure “sustainability and predictability” for European businesses and consumers. Implementation of the agreement is expected to bring hope that repeated tariff threats will soon be part of the past. /Periscope