Published on •Updated
The EU and the US are preparing for a trade deal involving the US imposing a baseline 10% tariff on EU goods, according to several sources briefed by EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.
A preliminary agreement is expected to be concluded by Wednesday, with legal implementation by 1 August — the new deadline set by US President Donald Trump before additional tariffs come into effect if no deal is signed, sources said.
“The US will not drop the baseline tariffs, because they’re a revenue source,” the Parliament’s trade committee head MEP Bernd Lange (Germany/S&D) told reporters on Tuesday.
He said that aircraft and spirits would be exempted from the baseline 10% tariffs. Whether wines are included remains unclear.
The US currently apply 25% tariffs on EU cars, 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium and 10% tariffs on all other EU imports.
Lange said negotiations are ongoing on attempts to remove tariffs on cars, with much at stake for the German automotive industry, which is highly exposed to trade with the US.
“There are already estimates that up to 50,000 jobs could be at risk,” Lange added.
Germany and Italy — the largest EU exporters of goods to the US along with Ireland — remain concerned by US proposals not to exempt key sectors such as cars, steel and aluminium or pharmaceuticals, according to an EU diplomat.
EU retaliatory measures remain on the table but have not yet been finalised by the Commission. The EU must still decide when to use them.
“There is no immediate plan to do anything with the list,” Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said on Monday.
A first list of measures covering €21 billion worth of US products has been suspended until 14 July.
A second list, reduced following lobbying by industries and EU member states from €95 billion to €72 billion worth of US products, according to the French news agency AFP, has yet to be submitted for final approval by EU member states.
