The negotiators of the European Parliament (EP), the Council of the EU and the European Commission (EC) have agreed on the wording of the legislative text after the meeting that started late on Tuesday evening in Strasbourg, which is to pave the way for the reduction of EU customs rates and for the introduction of safeguards in the event that US President Donald Trump withdraws from the agreement concluded in Turnberry, Scotland.
The United States and the European Union concluded a framework trade agreement on August 21 last year. It confirmed a preliminary oral agreement from July between Trump and EC President Ursula von der Leyen and includes, among other things, a 15 percent ceiling on tariffs on most imports from the EU to the US, including cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and wood. In return, the EU agreed to completely eliminate tariffs on American industrial products and to provide better market access for selected American agricultural products.
“Europe has managed to avoid a destructive escalation of transatlantic trade tensions and protect European businesses, investments and millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Zovková, a member of the European People’s Group (EPP), in a post on the X Network announcing the agreement.
“This agreement should provide a more stable framework for trade relations between the EU and the US while leaving room for further discussions on outstanding issues, especially in the steel and aluminum sectors,” Reuters quoted the EPP, the strongest political group in the European Parliament, as saying.
The Commission and the Council of the EU wanted to approve the agreement quickly, among other things, out of fear of possible retaliation from Washington. Trump recently stated that the EU must bring the agreement into force by July 4, otherwise it will face significantly higher tariffs, in the case of automobiles he threatened a 25 percent rate. A coalition of center-left and liberal MPs joined together several times to delay the approval of the trade agreement – first after Trump’s threats to annex Greenland and then after the decision of the US Supreme Court, which overturned most of Trump’s tariff agenda.
Members of the European Parliament still have to vote on the text adopted as part of today’s so-called trialogue at the plenary session, which is expected in mid-June in Strasbourg.
