The European Union agreed on the morning of May 20 to implement the terms of the trade agreement with the United States, which was concluded in July 2025 in Turnberry, Scotland. Negotiators from the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the European Commission reached a compromise after more than five hours of talks.
Politico writes about this.
Under the deal, the EU agreed to eliminate tariffs on American industrial goods and some agricultural products, while Washington was to cap tariffs on most European exports at 15%. But the EU dragged out the process, first because of Donald Trumpʼs threats to seize Greenland, and then because of the US Supreme Courtʼs decision to overturn a significant part of his tariff policy.
Internal disputes on this issue lasted for several months in the EU, a compromise was reached after Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on European cars from July 4.
Such an escalation risked dragging the €1.7 trillion-a-year transatlantic trade back into crisis, especially against the backdrop of energy concerns caused by the conflict in the Middle East, which are already weighing on Europeʼs economic growth.
What else does the agreement provide?
According to the final text of the document, which Politico saw, the European Commission will be able to suspend the trade agreement at the request of the European Parliament or an EU member state if Washington does not reduce tariffs on European steel and aluminum by the end of 2026.
The US tariffs on steel and aluminium are set at 50% under an executive order signed by Trump in April, and many MEPs believe this violates the Turnberry deal. Under the new deal, the European Commission will report to the European Parliament and the Council on US steel tariffs later this year and, if it determines that the US is not complying with the agreement, will consider suspending the deal.
Negotiators added a “sunset clause” that would see the agreement expire in December 2029 — nearly a year after Trump is scheduled to leave the White House.
The text also contains safeguard mechanisms that oblige the European Commission — on its own initiative or at the request of three EU countries — to investigate whether imports pose a serious threat to domestic industry. This could lead to partial or complete suspension of the trade agreement.
However, the text did not include a clause on the automatic termination of the agreement if the US again threatens the territorial integrity of the EU, which was demanded by the European Parliament after Trumpʼs threats to annex Greenland. EU member states opposed such a provision.
An EU official familiar with the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said member states wanted to exclude any non-trade issues from the agreement.
The text will now be put to a vote during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, which is expected to take place on June 15-18.
Trumpʼs tariffs
The US President Donald Trump reported on April 2, 2025, that he would impose tariffs on goods from other countries. The new tariffs will apply to more than 180 countries and territories (not including Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and Belarus, which are already under sanctions). A 10% tariff was imposed on Ukraine.
On April 9, Trump postponed tariffs on all but China, which received the highest tariffs of 145%, while most countries are subject to a base rate of 10%. Then, on April 10, the EU mirrored the imposition of tariffs in response to the US tariffs by 90 days; before that decision, the new tariffs were to take effect on April 15.
In July, Trump began announcing new tariffs. In particular, Japan and South Korea received a 25% tariff, Laos and Myanmar — 40%, Malaysia and Kazakhstan — 25%, and South Africa — 30%.
From August 1, Washington imposed a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union and Mexico, some of the United Statesʼ largest trading partners.
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