The U.S. will impose a 15% tariff on imports of European cars, pharmaceuticals and other products, according to a joint statement issued Thursday by the Trump administration and European Union.
The pact also calls for the 27-member EU to eliminate tariffs on all American industrial exports and to offer preferred terms for some seafood and farm products, while the U.S. will reduce tariffs accordingly.
The new framework, which is an agreement to facilitate trade negotiations between countries rather than a finalized deal, comes after President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met briefly in July at Mr. Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland. At the time, they announced a sweeping trade deal that imposed 15% tariffs on most European goods, warding off the Mr. Trump’s threat of a 30% rate if no deal was reached by Aug. 1.
In the latest pact, the U.S. reaffirmed its pledge to limit import duties on most European goods, including cars, drugs and semiconductors to no more than 15%, pending additional legislative actions by the EU.
The agreement also covers $750 billion in energy purchases and $600 billion in EU investments by 2028.Â
“This Framework Agreement represents a concrete demonstration of our commitment to fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial trade and investment,” the White House and EU said in a joint statement. “This Framework Agreement will put our trade and investment relationship – one of the largest in the world – on a solid footing and will reinvigorate our economies’ reindustrialization.”
After the agreement is fully implemented, the average effective U.S. tariff on imports from EU countries will range from 10% to 14%, according to Eurasia Group, a consulting firm focused on political risk. Together, the U.S. and the EU account for 44% of the global economy.
What’s inside the framework pact
The framework impacts a broad range of items produced by the U.S. and the EU, ranging from dairy products to lobster. Some of the additional provisions include:
The EU will “provide preferential market access” for U.S. agricultural goods and seafood, including dairy products, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, soybean oil and pork and bison meat. The EU pledged to take steps to extend a 2020 agreement for lobster imports, which had expired in July, including expanding the scope to include processed lobster.The U.S. will reduce tariffs on EU-made automobiles to 15% once the European trading bloc formalizes its elimination of tariffs on all American industrial exports. A pledge by the EU to buy at least $40 billion’s worth of U.S. AI chips for its computing centers.The EU said it would “substantially increase procurement of military and defense equipment from the United States, with the support and facilitation of the U.S. government,” although the framework didn’t include a dollar figure for the purchases.
The EU and U.S. agreed to streamline requirements for sanitary certificates for pork and dairy products, part of an effort to address nontariff barriers to trade.Â
Some of the provisions include agreements to modify regulations that don’t involve tariffs, such as a pledge by the EU to “address the concerns of U.S. producers and exporters regarding the EU Deforestation Regulation, with a view to avoiding undue impact on U.S.-EU trade.”
“This is a serious, strategic deal — and we are fully behind it. A wide range of sectors, including strategic industries such as cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and lumber, stand to benefit,” said the EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic.
The terms of the deal are likely to face pushback from some EU member states, notably the provisions requiring countries in the trading bloc to open their markets to U.S. farm products, according to Eurasia Group. But most EU governments will support the arrangement given the benefits to key industries, include cars and pharmaceutical firms, the firm predicted in a report.Â
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