\n<\/p>\n
Washington will not lower steep tariffs on European cars until Brussels has introduced legislation to reduce its own tariffs on US exports, maintaining pressure on the EU\u2019s automotive industry.<\/p>\n
While the Trump administration has agreed to lower the current 27.5% US tariffs on European cars and car parts to 15%, details of a framework trade deal published on Thursday revealed the terms and conditions.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the deal on 27 July at Trump\u2019s luxury golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, after an hour-long meeting that followed months of negotiations.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement, the US and the EU listed commitments including the EU\u2019s pledge to eliminate tariffs on all US industrial goods, and provide preferential market access for a wide range of US seafood and agricultural goods.<\/p>\n
The US has agreed in principle to charge a 15% tariff on most EU imports, including autos, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber.<\/p>\n
US officials have suggested it could only be a matter of weeks before the administration lowers its high tariffs on the EU auto industry, depending on how long it takes the bloc to formally legislate its pledges to pare back tariffs on the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as they\u2019re able to introduce that legislation \u2013 and I don\u2019t mean pass it and fully implement it, but really introduce it \u2013 then we will be in a position to provide that relief,\u201d an unnamed US official told Reuters. \u201cAnd I will say that both sides are very interested in moving quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the joint statement makes clear that EU carmakers will continue to face 27.5% US tariffs until the bloc introduces new laws. US tariffs on EU cars will be lowered \u201cfrom the first day of the same month in which the European Union\u2019s legislative proposal is introduced\u201d, it says, adding that the legislation must \u201cbe consistent with this Framework Agreement and enacted by the necessary legislatures\u201d.<\/p>\n
European leaders have some reservations. Last month the French prime minister, Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou, described \u201ca dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission\u201d.<\/p>\n
And the Spanish prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, said at a news conference earlier this week: \u201cI support this trade agreement, but I do so without any enthusiasm,\u201d noting the deal would have a limited impact on Spain\u2019s economy given its smaller exposure to the US market.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, industry leadersresponded with dismay.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the EU exported \u20ac8bn worth of alcohol, including \u20ac5bn of wine, to the US, its main export market. The French wine exporters federation said on Thursday it was \u201chugely disappointed\u201d by the EU\u2019s admission that it failed to secure a tariff exemption for the sector in the US-EU trade deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are certain that this will create major difficulties for the wines and spirits sector,\u201d the head of the wine and spirits federation FEVS, Gabriel Picard, said.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s minister for trade, Laurent Saint-Martin, said the government would seek \u201cadditional exemptions\u201d for wines and spirits as part of the US-EU trade deal. \u201cThe agreement leaves open the possibility for additional exemptions and we\u2019ll be working on them. The story isn\u2019t over,\u201d he wrote on X, adding: \u201cI\u2019m not saying it will be easy or that it\u2019ll happen next week \u2026 defending our exports remains our priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christophe Chateau of the Bordeaux winemakers association, said the US was his members\u2019 biggest market and the tariff would be a \u201cfurther brake\u201d on sales. However, he said he was relieved Trump had not carried out threats to tax imports of European wine at 200%. \u201cIt could have been worse, but it\u2019s not good news,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Before the announcement on Thursday, the Swiss chocolate makers Lindt and Swiss knife producers Victorinox announced they planned to move part of their production to the US to avoid tariffs on exports.<\/p>\n
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States also criticized the deal, noting 15% tariffs on EU spirit imports to the US could result in an estimated retail loss of more than $1bn and 12,000 jobs. \u201cWe are disappointed that this joint statement did not include permanent tariff-free trade for distilled spirits on both sides of the Atlantic,\u201d its president and CEO, Chris Swonger, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Of the 27 EU member states, Germany exports most to the U.S. (\u20ac161bn last year) followed by Ireland (\u20ac71.3bn), Italy (\u20ac64.8bn), France (\u20ac47.1bn) and the Netherlands (\u20ac43.3bn) according to figures from the EU\u2019s statistics agency Eurostat.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Italian Employers\u2019 Study Centre, warned a 15% rate combined with a 13.5% devaluation of the dollar against the euro in 2025 would cause a \u20ac22.6bnbillion decline in the country\u2019s exports to the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are talking about 15%, but in reality the surcharge will be close to 30%,\u201d Dario Costantini, president of the CNA (the national confederation of small and medium size businesses), said. \u201cThis is an unfair and disproportionate tax that penalises products made in Italy and will also have negative repercussions on the US economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reuters contributed reporting<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Washington will not lower steep tariffs on European cars until Brussels has introduced legislation to reduce its own tariffs on US exports, maintaining pressure on the EU\u2019s automotive industry. While the Trump administration has agreed to lower the current 27.5% US tariffs on European cars and car parts to 15%, details of a framework trade<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[3444,1689,304,715,1492,949,1562,2147,72,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-17121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-brussels","9":"tag-cars","10":"tag-cut","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-goods","13":"tag-high","14":"tag-hold","15":"tag-moves","16":"tag-tariffs","17":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}