“There should not be any doubt: their tariffs on cars and car parts should go down. That is the U.S. part of the bargain,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told a briefing.
Lobster in, beef out
Commission officials underlined that no “sensitive” farm goods were included, stressing that U.S. beef and poultry remain explicitly excluded from the concessions. These products are politically explosive in Europe, where stricter hormone and hygiene rules have long limited American imports.
Instead, Brussels offered tariff-rate quotas on a limited list of U.S. agrifood exports such as dairy, pork, nuts, seafood and even bison meat. It also kept all U.S. lobster imports tariff-free, a politically potent win in Washington, landing as Maine’s lobster season is in full swing. One official described the concessions as “meaningful, but not very costly” for the EU.
That offers little relief for European farm lobbies which were already critical of the outline of the deal last week.
Groups like Copa-Cogeca and Farm Europe argue that European agriculture “footed the bill” for the handshake deal. It won no reciprocal gains, they said, while still facing a 15 percent tariff ceiling on most exports to the U.S., including products that previously traded tariff-free, like wine and spirits. Farm groups say rural interests were effectively sidelined while Europe’s carmakers walked away with the prize.
EU hurdles
Proposing the tariff legislation is only a first step, as the Commission will still need the assent of at least 15 of the EU’s 27 member countries and a simple majority in the European Parliament for it to take effect.