The European Union and the Trump Administration yesterday reached a trade agreement that would set a baseline tariff of 15% on European goods. The agreement includes concessions for European Union members to buy $750 billion in U.S. energy and invest $600 billion in the U.S. The European Union was facing tariffs as high as 30%, due to take effect Aug. 1.
“Today’s deal creates certainty in uncertain times,” European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said, according to reporting in The Wall Street Journal. She said the 15% level would apply for the “vast majority of EU exports,” including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. She added the 15% level “is the best we could get.”
Possible exemptions between the countries include “zero-for-zero tariffs” on strategic products, such as aircraft and semiconductor equipment. According to The New York Times, European Union members would cut tariffs on some U.S. imports, such as farming equipment and industrial goods, though not immediately.
Of particular interest to the marine industry, Trump said that the 50% levies enacted against all global steel import into the U.S. would remain, though Von der Leyen said those tariffs “will be cut,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Most important, however, boats imported to the U.S. from Europe appear to fall in line with the new 15% tariff rate.
