June 16. 2026. 8:45

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EU seals US trade deal after Trump threatens fresh tariffs


The European Parliament and EU governments agreed early Wednesday on the terms for implementing the so-called “Turnberry deal,” the trade pact struck between Brussels and Washington last summer.

Under the agreement, reached last July at US President Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resort, the EU would eliminate tariffs on hundreds of US industrial and agricultural goods in exchange for a 15% tariff on most EU exports to the US.

Trump recently accused Brussels of dragging its feet over implementation and warned the bloc to enforce the deal by 4 July or face fresh tariffs.

After hours of negotiations in Strasbourg, lawmakers and EU states agreed to attach several conditions to the pact that go beyond the original political agreement.

“I’m glad to say that we have delivered a strong result with a meaningful impact,” EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told reporters.

Parliament failed to secure a much-discussed “sunrise clause,” which would have made the tariff suspension conditional on the US lifting tariffs on steel and aluminium. EU governments opposed the measure.

Instead, negotiators agreed on a suspension mechanism that would allow the bloc to reimpose tariffs if Washington is deemed not to be complying with the agreement.

Socialist MEP Bernd Lange, Parliament’s lead negotiator, said the US would have until the end of the year to suspend tariffs on steel and aluminium derivatives introduced after the Turnberry deal was reached, or trade benefits could be put at risk.

However, the suspension would not be automatic. The text merely empowers the European Commission to introduce additional legislation halting some trade preferences after a political assessment by the EU executive.

Šefčovič said he would stress to US counterparts the importance of removing tariffs on steel and aluminium derivatives during upcoming talks. “We want to see that the joint statement would be implemented in a fair way from both sides,” he said.

The Council also rejected Parliament’s push to include threats to EU territorial integrity, such as repeated US remarks about taking over Greenland, as grounds for suspending the agreement.

Negotiators also agreed on an expiry date of December 2029, effectively ensuring the deal remains in force throughout Trump’s current presidential term and beyond the European Parliament elections scheduled for May that year.

The agreement also includes a safeguard mechanism allowing the EU to reimpose tariffs if a Commission investigation finds that increased tariff-free US imports are harming a European economic sector.

EU ambassadors are due to discuss the outcome of the talks later on Wednesday. Šefčovič said he would brief US counterparts on the agreement as soon as possible.

(cz)