EU spares goods from the USA from higher tariffs after new trade agreement

After a trade agreement between the EU and the USA has been reached, the European Commission has decided to suspend the increased tariffs that were planned to be imposed on American goods.

This is stated by the EU’s trade spokesperson Olof Gill to the news agency AFP.

The increased tariffs were set to take effect on August 7.

It involved additional tariffs on American goods worth 107 billion dollars – or nearly 690 billion kroner.

“The Commission has today adopted the necessary legislative procedures to suspend the implementation of our countermeasures, which were to take effect on August 7,” says Olof Gill.

The EU’s increased tariffs were set to affect a wide range of American goods – from soybeans and whiskey to cars and airplanes.

Without the increased tariffs in the EU, many types of goods from the USA will be subject to under two percent tariffs, while agricultural products will face slightly higher tariffs.

On July 27, the EU and the USA entered into a so-called framework agreement on trade. It was presented by the President of the USA, Donald Trump, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

This means that, in principle, a 15 percent tariff will be imposed on goods exported from the EU to the USA.

The tariff rate of 15 percent is half of the tariff rate of 30 percent that Donald Trump had previously threatened to impose on American imports of goods from the EU.

The EU’s planned countermeasures before the trade agreement included different tariff rates on different types of American goods. The American goods would have been subject to tariffs of up to 30 percent.

According to an anonymous senior EU official, the EU’s increased tariffs could come into play again if necessary.

“We put them on hold, and we can always bring them back if necessary, so we can always lift the suspension,” he tells AFP.

The American tariff of 15 percent on goods from the EU will take effect on Wednesday.