The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have unblocked an almost year-old trade agreement with the US. This is how the Union reacts to Trump’s threat of high tariffs on cars.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached a temporary agreement on the implementation of the almost year-old trade agreement between the Union and the United States early on Wednesday morning. US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs if the deal is not passed by July 4. TASR informs about it according to the reports of the AFP and Reuters agencies.
The talks ended two weeks after Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on EU cars if Europe did not accept the deal he struck with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last July in Turnberry, Scotland, by July 4.
Duty-free import of industrial goods
The agreement provides for duty-free import of American industrial goods into the EU. In exchange, the United States pledged to apply a blanket tariff, capped at 15 percent, to most EU imports.
“Maintaining a stable, predictable and balanced transatlantic partnership is in the interests of both sides,” said Cyprus’ Trade Minister Michael Damianos. “The European Union is fulfilling its obligations today,” he added, according to the Euronews portal.
Risk of re-voltage
However, relations between the EU and the US remain fragile and there are fears in Brussels that the US government could use the tariffs again to exert political pressure on the Union if it does not comply with the demands of the White House on other issues, writes Euronews.
