Autobayng News Team
- Published On Aug 21, 2025 at 06:13 PM IST
US, EU trade deal sets 15% tariff on European car and pharma exports.“>
European car and pharmaceutical exports to the United States will be subjected to a 15-per cent tariff rate, a joint US-EU statement detailing their trade deal showed on Thursday.
The same rate will apply to wine and spirits, after Brussels failed to secure an exemption for its cherished industry, the European Commission said.
“This is a serious, strategic deal — and we are fully behind it. A wide range of sectors, including strategic industries such as cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and lumber, stand to benefit,” said the EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic.Brussels and Washington clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15-per cent US levy.But details remained unclear, with negotiations continuing for weeks as the EU sought to win carve-outs for some sectors and US President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs on others.
The statement published on Thursday brought some clarity, although some moving parts remain.
Under the deal a “clear maximum, all-inclusive” tariff rate of 15 per cent will apply to the vast majority of EU exports, the commission said.
Sefcovic said he was confident that the rate for cars, which is lower than the current 27.5 per cent, will apply retroactively from August 1, having received assurances on the matter from his US counterpart.But the new rate will kick in only once the EU introduces legislation to reduce its own tariffs on US products, something Sefcovic said the commission was “working very hard” on.France, Italy and other wine-making countries had pushed hard to win a zero tariff exemption for alcohol including champagne, wines and spirits, but Sefcovic said EU efforts “didn’t succeed”.
He added that negotiations would continue, saying: “These doors are not closed forever”.
A special more favourable regime will apply as of September 1 to a number of products including “unavailable natural resources” such as cork, all aircraft and aircraft parts and generic pharmaceuticals, the commission said.
“This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential,” said commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
- Published On Aug 21, 2025 at 06:13 PM IST
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