Brussels, Belgium. The European Commission on Sunday urged the United States to stick to the terms of an EU-U.S. trade deal reached last year, following new tariffs announced by President Donald Trump after a Supreme Court ruling.
The Commission said Washington must provide “full clarity” on the steps it intends to take after the court struck down Trump’s global tariffs.
Commission calls for adherence to agreed terms
The Commission, which negotiates trade policy on behalf of the 27 EU member states, said the current situation was not conducive to delivering “fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial” transatlantic trade and investment, as agreed by both sides in last year’s joint statement.
“A deal is a deal,” the Commission said.
The comments were more strongly worded than the Commission’s initial response on Friday, when it said it was studying the outcome of the Supreme Court decision and keeping in contact with the U.S. administration.
New U.S. levies announced after court ruling
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s global tariffs on Friday, Trump announced temporary, across-the-board tariffs of 10%, and raised them to 15% a day later.
Terms of last year’s agreement and areas of uncertainty
Last year’s trade deal set a 15% U.S. tariff rate for most EU goods, except for those covered by other sectoral tariffs such as on steel. It also allowed zero tariffs on some products such as aircraft and spare parts.
Under the deal, the EU agreed to remove import duties on many U.S. goods and withdrew a threat to retaliate with higher levies.
It was not clear whether Trump’s new 15% tariffs supersede the EU-U.S. deal. If they do, the EU’s zero-tariff exemptions could disappear. The new tariffs could also be applied on top of pre-existing U.S. ‘most-favoured-nation’ duties, which is not the case under the EU-U.S. deal.
Estimated economic impact and market concerns
The Commission said EU products must continue to benefit from the most competitive treatment, with no tariff increases beyond the previously agreed ceiling, adding that unpredictable tariffs were disruptive and undermined confidence across global markets.
Trade policy monitor Global Trade Alert estimated that the EU as a whole would be 0.8 percentage points worse off, with Italy facing an extra 1.7 percentage points of U.S. tariffs. It also said the EU’s comparative advantage under a 15% tariff appeared to have disappeared if countries without a deal faced the same rate.
How do you think the new U.S. tariffs could affect the EU-U.S. trade agreement’s exemptions and tariff ceilings?
