U.S. Criticizes EU Over Slow Implementation of Tariff Reductions
The agreement, signed in July by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump, imposes a 15% tariff on EU exports of cars and most other goods, while committing the bloc to purchase $750 billion in US oil and gas and invest $600 billion in the US economy over three years.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the Financial Times that EU tariffs on US exports remain “too high” despite the pact. He added that regulations and non-tariff barriers from Brussels continue to block US exports and restrict market access, while Washington has “historically had very broad access for them [EU goods].”
“We did not solve every problem in our relationship with our joint statement from earlier in the year,” Greer said, noting that trade, which he described as “quite unbalanced,” has long been “a flashpoint.”
Greer is scheduled to travel to the EU later this week to meet Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, while US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will meet with Sefcovic and EU trade ministers in Brussels on November 24. The United States has already sent a formal complaint to Brussels and is preparing a five-point response plan.
Under the deal, the EU pledged to lower import tariffs on US industrial goods, seafood, pork, and select agricultural products. However, implementation is on hold pending European Parliament approval, which EU officials cited by the Financial Times say is unlikely before February.
An unnamed Trump administration official told the Financial Times that the EU is stalling “on all of this,” warning that Brussels risks squandering a period of improved relations with the Trump administration.
The trade agreement followed months of intense negotiations and threats of massive tariffs from Trump, and von der Leyen has faced criticism from current and former EU officials over the perceived imbalance of the deal.
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