US-EU Joint Declaration on Trade Agreement

According to information from the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, you are informed that following the meeting of the President of the European Commission with the President of the United States at the end of July, a Joint Declaration on the terms of the preliminary trade agreement between the EU and the US was agreed and published on 21 August 2025. This text is not the final agreement per se, but the basis for negotiating the formal agreement that the two parties will draw up at a later stage.

The main points of the Joint Declaration are summarised below for your information:

1. Tariff Commitments: The EU intends to remove tariffs on all US industrial products and provide favourable access to a range of US agricultural and fishery products, including nuts, dairy products, fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, processed foods, seeds for planting, soybean oil, pork and bison meat.
2. U.S. Tariff Cap: The U.S. is committed to maintaining a 15% tariff cap on most European products. In addition, from September 2025, a Favourable Treatment Tariff (MFN) of a maximum of 15% will be imposed on specific categories of European goods, such as natural resources that do not exist in the US, aircraft and spare parts, generic medicines and chemical precursors.
3. Tariffs on Cars and Sectors Under Investigation: The agreement also provides that the U.S. will maintain a 27.5 percent tariff on vehicles and parts imported from the EU, until the EU implements the elimination of tariffs on all U.S. industrial products and favorable treatment on agricultural products. Their intention, following the adoption and implementation of the EU legislation to abolish or reduce tariffs on US products, in turn to reduce the tariff on cars and spare parts to 15%, ensuring that the total aggravating rate, including Article 232 measures, does not exceed the ceiling.
4. Energy Cooperation: EU commits to US$750 billion in LNG, oil and nuclear energy by 2028.
5. Non-Tariff Barriers and Standards: The two sides are committed to closer cooperation, with an emphasis on mutual recognition of standards.
6. Strategic Minerals and Raw Materials: The two sides will work together to address third countries’ export restrictions on critical minerals and raw materials, with the aim of protecting their economies from the excess production capacity of third countries.

The following link is attached which includes the European Commission’s communication on the content of the Joint Statement.

Joint Statement on a United States-European Union framework on an agreement on reciprocal, fair and balanced trade – European Commission

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