According to several sources, the agreement between the European Union and the United States is still subject to the goodwill of Donald Trump. Negotiators on both sides have come up with a proposal that would include a 15% tariff on EU exports to the US and a reduction in US ‘sectoral’ tariffs, notably on cars.
Pending the announcement of an agreement, and in anticipation of a potential refusal from Trump, the EU is moving ahead with its work on the adoption of countermeasures. On Thursday 24 July, the Member States gave the go-ahead for tariffs of up to 30% on American products, worth a total of €93 billion. This is the merger of the first and second lists proposed by the Commission between March and May.
These were adopted by the Commission on the same day and will automatically come into force on 7 August, if no agreement is reached.
See the legislative act: https://aeur.eu/f/I04
What’s more, Member States are increasingly prepared to use anti-coercion if negotiations fail.
The Commission spokesman responsible for trade issues, Olof Gill, made it clear, however, that the Commission had no intention of adopting any countermeasures other than those adopted on Thursday between now and 1 August, in order to leave room for negotiations. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)