Tariff Agreement: EU and US Agree to Limited Rollbacks in Show of Good Faith

On Friday, August 21, Commissioner Hogan and Ambassador Lighthizer announced that the EU and the US have reached agreement on a series of tariff reductions.
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The package is presented as part of a phased approach that will lead to additional agreements between the two economies. AmCham Germany welcomes the agreement as a small but positive step towards normalizing and deepening EU-US trade relations. 

Under the agreement, the EU will eliminate tariffs on imports of US live and frozen lobster products. US exports of these products to the EU were over $111 million in 2017. The EU will eliminate these tariffs on a Most Favored Nation (MFN) basis, retroactive to begin August 1, 2020. The EU tariffs will be eliminated for a period of five years and the European Commission will promptly initiate procedures aimed at making the tariff changes permanent. The United States will reduce by 50% its tariff rates on certain products exported by the EU worth an average annual trade value of $160 million, including certain prepared meals, certain crystal glassware, surface preparations, propellant powders, cigarette lighters and lighter parts. The US tariff reductions will also be made on an MFN basis and retroactive to begin August 1, 2020.

AmCham Germany continues to support every effort to advance the transatlantic trade and investment agenda. The EU-US economy is the engine of global growth and has a key role to play in powering the economic recovery.

Heather Liermann

Head of Department

Membership Engagement & Development