EU paves way to finalise US trade deal and avoid Trump tariff hike

The European Union struck a provisional agreement on Wednesday on legislation to remove import duties on U.S. goods, a key part of the trade deal reached with Washington last July, in a move likely to avert higher U.S. tariffs on EU products.



Under the terms of the deal struck at U.S. President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last July, the EU agreed to remove import duties on U.S. industrial goods and grant preferential access to U.S. farm and sea produce. In exchange, the United States would impose tariffs of 15% on most EU goods.

Nearly 10 months since that framework accord, the European Parliament and the Council, the body representing EU governments, agreed on a legislative text, paving the way for the EU duty reductions to enter force with safeguards in case Trump reneges on the agreement.



"I am proud to announce that Europe has avoided a damaging escalation of transatlantic trade tensions and protected European companies, investments and millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic," Zeljana Zovko, the lead trade negotiator in the European People's Party group on the U.S. deal, said in an X post announcing the deal.



"The agreement is expected to provide a more stable framework for EU-US trade relations while leaving room for further discussions on unresolved issues, particularly in the steel and aluminium sector," the European People's Party said.