World

European Union reaches provisional deal on US tariffs

May 20, 2026

Europe Climate — The deal eliminates duties on most US industrial goods imported into Europe. -AP

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

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

Under the terms of the deal struck at US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland in July, the EU agreed to remove import duties on US industrial goods and grant preferential access to US farm and sea produce.

In exchange, the United States would impose tariffs of 15 per cent 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 US 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.

Trump has said he would impose much higher tariffs on EU goods including cars if the European Union did not implement its trade deal commitments by July 4, having earlier threatened to raise tariffs on EU car imports to 25 per cent from the current 15 per cent.

EU lawmakers had twice paused the required legislation after Trump's threats to impose new tariffs on European allies who did not back his proposed acquisition of Greenland and after the US Supreme Court struck down his global ‌tariffs.

The bloc should now meet Trump's July 4 deadline, with a final vote of approval in the European Parliament expected in mid-June.

EU lawmakers had wanted tougher safeguards, including a "sunrise clause" under which the EU would only cut duties when the United States fulfilled its side of the deal, the possibility to suspend the deal if the US breached the terms, and a "sunset clause" to end EU tariff concessions on March 31, 2028.

EU governments had less appetite for inserting such items, concerned they could antagonise the Trump administration and create uncertainty for EU ⁠businesses.