The United States finally honoured its part of the agreement by lowering tariffs on European vehicles to 15% and re-imposing the basic ‘MFN’ tariff on a list of products that was agreed in July (see EUROPE 13689/1). On Thursday 25 September, the US administration published a notice about the modification of the relevant customs duties.
This applies to vehicles and car parts, which are now subject to a maximum cumulative tariff of 15%, and it will have retroactive effect from 1 August 2025.
As for unavailable natural resources – certain precious metals, pearls and cork – aircraft and aircraft parts, as well as generic pharmaceuticals, their ingredients and chemical precursors, all these products will once again be treated on the basis of the MFN tariff, which is often close to 0%. This change shall apply retroactively from 1 September 2025.
Discussions are now continuing with a view to reaching an agreement with Washington over European steel and aluminium, which are still subject to a 50% tariff. According to our information, the EU is hoping to negotiate tariff quotas for its products, but the US administration is not particularly receptive to this idea.
On Thursday 25 September, the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maroš Šefčovič, met the US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, to specifically discuss this issue. In a post on social network X, the Commissioner welcomed the implementation of the joint commitments by the United States.
See the notice published by the US authorities: https://aeur.eu/f/im1 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)