EU lawmakers and member states reached an agreement early Wednesday morning on the implementation of the bloc's trade deal with the United States reached nearly a year ago, with US President Donald Trump threatening new tariffs if it is not done by July 4, UNN writes, citing AFP.
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The 27-nation bloc reached an agreement with Washington last July that set tariffs on most European goods at 15 percent, but to Trump's frustration, the EU has yet to fulfill its promise to scrap tariffs on most US imports.
Negotiators from the European Parliament and EU countries haggled late into the night, finally emerging several hours after midnight with news of a deal on the way forward.
"This means we will soon fulfill our part of the work," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, welcoming the agreement and calling for a swift conclusion to its implementation process.
"Together we can ensure stable, predictable, balanced and mutually beneficial transatlantic trade," von der Leyen said in a social media post.
The deal with the EU puts the bloc on track to meet a deadline set by Trump for ratification of the agreement reached in Turnberry, Scotland, between Trump and von der Leyen, and is hoped to end more than a year of transatlantic trade battles.
In addition, Trump warned that the European Union should expect "much higher" tariffs and has already promised to raise tariffs on European cars and trucks from 15 to 25 percent.
The tariff blitz launched by Trump prior to the Turnberry deal, including significant duties on steel, aluminum, and auto parts, prompted the bloc to develop trade ties around the world.
But the EU cannot afford to neglect the 1.6 trillion euro ($1.9 trillion) relationship with the US, its largest trading partner.
The European Parliament gave a conditional green light to the deal in March, after months of delay caused by Trump's plans for Greenland and a US Supreme Court ruling overturning many of the president's tariffs.
US Supreme Court rules Trump's global tariffs illegal20.02.26, 17:31
Lawmakers were under pressure to drop several amendments that the Americans considered unacceptable, including a suspension clause that would have scrapped favorable customs terms for US exporters in the event of a US breach of the agreement.
The final text empowers the European Commission to trigger a suspension mechanism if the US fails to meet its obligations or commits violations regarding trade and investment with the EU, including through "discrimination or harassment of EU economic operators."
It also gives the EU the means to address surges in US imports "which cause or threaten to cause serious injury to domestic producers" — with suspension also being a possible outcome.
But the European Parliament also agreed to lower some demands, and the final text notably gave the US until the end of the year to scrap additional taxes above 15 percent on steel components, rather than insisting on it as a prerequisite.
Another dispute erupted over so-called "sunrise" and "sunset" clauses, under which the European part of the deal would take effect as soon as the US fully met its obligations and would expire if not renewed in 2028.
The sunrise clause was completely removed, and the sunset clause was moved to the end of 2029, according to a statement from the parliament.
The chairman of the European Parliament's trade committee, Bernd Lange, faced the challenge of forging a common position among various factions that haggled until the last moment.
Lange downplayed the concessions extracted from lawmakers, saying after the deal was announced that "parliament won with its demands for a comprehensive social safety net."
But Anna Cavazzini of the EU's Green faction was less enthusiastic, saying "the deal puts the EU at a disadvantage," while acknowledging that "it could provide some level of economic stability."
"One can only hope that the arrangement on the customs agreement will now calm the situation so that other important issues in EU-US relations can be resolved," she said.