EU clears major hurdle to finalize U.S. trade deal

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday welcomed an interim agreement on legislation to eliminate import duties on US goods and urged lawmakers to move quickly to complete the process.

EU lawmakers welcomed the breakthrough after more than five hours of overnight talks, saying it would pave the way for the 27-nation bloc to avoid US President Donald Trump’s threat to punish further delays with higher tariffs.

The deal includes a safeguard mechanism that would allow Brussels to suspend tariff cuts if U.S. imports hurt European industry.

It also allows the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to suspend tariff preferences if the United States continues to impose a tariff rate higher than 15% on EU steel and aluminum derivatives through the end of 2026.

The interim deal comes almost a year after the EU and the US first struck a trade deal at Trump’s golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland. Under the terms of the deal, the EU agreed to eliminate tariffs on U.S. industrial products, while the Trump administration agreed to limit tariffs on most European products to 15%.

EU’s von der Leyen: “The agreement is an agreement and the EU fulfills its commitments” in question via X on Wednesday. “Together we can ensure stable, predictable, balanced and mutually beneficial transatlantic trade.”

EU lawmakers have twice paused talks after Trump threatened to seize Denmark’s self-governing territory of Greenland in January and after the Supreme Court rejected much of Trump’s sweeping tariff agenda in February.

Earlier this month, the US president said he would give the EU until July 4 to approve a trade deal with Washington and threatened to raise tariffs to “much higher” levels if it did not do so.

He had also promised to increase duties on cars and trucks imported from the EU to 25%, accusing the bloc of failing to comply with the terms of the so-called “Turnberry Agreement”.

The EU is now expected to comply with Trump’s July 4 deadline, with a vote on final approval expected to take place in mid-June.

Željana Zovko, chief negotiator of the European People’s Party’s group on the US trade deal, said Europe had “avoided a damaging escalation of transatlantic trade tensions and protected European companies, investments and millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic”. in question on Wednesday.

Bernd Lange, the European Parliament’s chief trade negotiator. described The process was a “tough journey” but worthwhile.

“By translating the commitments under the joint declaration into law, this regulation becomes part of the EU’s toolkit to improve EU-US relations, while also responding to pressures,” Lange said in a statement. he said.