European car and pharmaceutical exports to the U.S. will be subjected to a 15% tariff rate, a joint U.S.-EU statement detailing their trade deal showed on Thursday.
The same rate will apply to wine and spirits, after Brussels failed to secure an exemption for its cherished industry, the European Commission said.
“This is a serious, strategic deal—and we are fully behind it. A wide range of sectors, including strategic industries such as cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and lumber, stand to benefit,” said the EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.
Brussels and Washington clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15% U.S. levy.
The statement published on Thursday brought some clarity, although some moving parts remain.
Under the deal a “clear maximum, all-inclusive” tariff rate of 15% will apply to the vast majority of EU exports, the commission said.
Šefčovič said he was confident that the rate for cars—which is lower than the current 27.5%—will apply retroactively from August 1st, having received assurances on the matter from his U.S. counterpart.
But the new rate will kick in only once the EU introduces legislation to reduce its own tariffs on U.S. products.
France, Italy, and other wine-making countries had pushed hard to win a zero tariff exemption for alcohol, including champagne, wines, and spirits, but Šefčovič said EU efforts “didn’t succeed.”
He added that negotiations would continue.
A special, more favourable regime will apply as of September 1st to a number of products including “unavailable natural resources,” the commission said.
