![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/US-EU-trade-deal-pic-unsized-AdobeStock_65660463-1_6224396ef1925c09354a4c7cdd5a43f8.jpeg\")
\n The European Council has agreed to cut tariffs on US imports as outlined in a controversial trade deal with the USA. Image source: Adobe Stock <\/p>\n
\n The European Council has agreed to cut tariffs on US imports as outlined in a controversial trade deal with the USA. Image source: Adobe Stock <\/p>\n
The European Council has agreed to cut tariffs on US imports as outlined in a controversial trade deal agreed in August between the European Commission (EC) and the US administration, Euronews reported on 28 November.<\/p>\n
The move came after US trade representatives urged EU states to fast-track the implementation of the deal, which would lead to the EU dropping tariffs to zero on most US industrial goods. <\/p>\n
The idea of adding a so-called \u201csunset clause\u201d \u2013 a mechanism that would end the tariff concessions after a period of five years if the deal was not renewed \u2013 had sparked a debate among EU countries but did not go ahead, Euronews wrote.<\/p>\n
However, the European Parliament is expected to raise the clause in upcoming talks, according to the report.<\/p>\n
The council \u2013 which represents EU member states \u2013 said on 28 November that while it largely supported the tariff-related aspects of the EU-US Joint Statement deal agreed on 21 August, it had introduced key amendments to strengthen the economic oversight and protection of sensitive EU sectors.<\/p>\n
It also called on the EC \u201cto continuously monitor the economic effects of the trade liberalisation measures on the EU’s economy and to submit a report on the regulation’s implementation and economic impact to the European Parliament and the Council by 31 December 2028.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EU-US trade agreement followed months of negotiations after US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on partners worldwide in what he called \u201cLiberation Day\u201d for the USA, Euronews wrote.<\/p>\n
Under the deal, the EU would pay 15% tariffs on its exports to the USA, while reducing its own tariffs on most US industrial products to zero.<\/p>\n
Although the deal had been widely criticised, the EC had defended it, saying it was the best possible outcome in the face of Trump\u2019s trade stance, the report said.<\/p>\n
The European Council also approved a clause allowing the EC to suspend the deal if the USA failed to implement it, as well as a safeguard mechanism enabling the agreement to be temporarily halted if US imports surged and disrupted the European single market as a result of tariff concessions, Euronews wrote.<\/p>\n
To finalise the tariff cuts, the EC and European Parliament must agree on a common text by next spring. <\/p>\n
According to an EU diplomat quoted in the report, most member states could accept adding the clause, but Germany opposed it.<\/p>\n
The head of the Parliament\u2019s trade committee, German MEP Bernd Lange had included the idea of a sunset clause in his report on the deal\u2019s implementation which would form the basis for the European Parliament\u2019s debate, the report said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The European Council has agreed to cut tariffs on US imports as outlined in a controversial trade deal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[18694,18693,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-609251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-oil-and-fats","9":"tag-oils-and-fats-international","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115654936977991324","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}