European Union awaits US follow-up on trade deal promises
The EU and U.S. reached a framework trade agreement at the end of July but only the 15% baseline tariff on European exports had so far come into effect, as of last week. EU officials previously said a joint statement would follow the deal "very soon" along with executive orders from U.S. President Donald Trump on key carve-outs.
"It is an agreement that we believe is strong and the best we could have ... Of course, we expect the U.S. to take further steps that are part of this agreement but I don't believe at this stage we can put a timeline on these engagements," the European Commission spokesperson said.
The carve-outs include a reduction of the current 27.5% U.S. import tariff on EU cars and car parts to 15%. While duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors are currently zero, if they rise as a result of a U.S. probe into imports of those products, Trump assured these would not exceed the 15% ceiling.
As part of the deal, the EU and U.S. are still finalising a list of products where tariffs would go down to zero on both sides, such as on aircraft, while other products would revert to a much lower most-favoured-nation rate. Separately, negotiations on rates for spirits and wine are expected to drag into the autumn.
Europe still faces tariffs of 50% on steel and aluminium exports to the U.S. but the two sides have agreed to set a quota system and a "metals alliance" that would later lower duties. In the interim, however, EU smelters are under pressure as U.S. tariffs have led to a surge in exports of their main input, scrap metal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘No room for tolerance': Cyprus greets resignation of UK trade envoy after visit to breakaway north
Cyprus has welcomed the resignation of the UK's trade envoy to Turkey, Afzal Khan, saying it sends 'a resounding message' amid widespread criticism of the Labour MP's recent visit to the island's breakaway Turkish-occupied north. Khan had defended his trip on 8 August in a letter to the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, claiming it was conducted 'in a personal capacity during the parliamentary recess'. But acknowledging the furore the visit had caused, the MP for Manchester Rusholme, who faced calls to resign, also said he felt it was 'best to stand down at this time so not to distract from the hard work the government is doing to secure the best possible trade deals for this country'. On Saturday, within hours of the British government confirming the resignation, the Cypriot foreign ministry called the decision an 'important development' that showed there could be zero tolerance for an entity recognised by no country except Turkey. In a statement it said: 'The recent illegal visit of British MP Afzal Khan to the areas of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkiye, as well as his meeting with [the territory's leader] Mr Ersin Tatar were unacceptable and provocative actions.' The episode had, the foreign ministry added, sent a resounding message 'that there is no room for tolerance'. 'It is clear … there must, and may be, political consequences regarding [the north] … especially for those who foster, assist or tolerate it.' Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when a coup aimed at union with Greece, engineered by the hard-right junta then in power in Athens, prompted Ankara to launch a military operation in the name of protecting the island nation's Turkish Cypriot minority. After years of inter-communal violence following independence from Britain, the two-phase invasion resulted in Turkish troops seizing 37% of Cyprus's territory and triggering mass displacement, with the majority Greek Cypriot population moving south of a UN-patrolled ceasefire line and Turkish Cypriots fleeing in the opposite direction. In 1983, the breakaway north unilaterally declared independence – prompting Britain, a guarantor power, to immediately convene a meeting of the UN security council condemning the declaration as 'legally invalid'. Successive governments in London and elsewhere have refused to engage in diplomatic relations with the entity ever since. Despite relentless efforts by Turkish Cypriot authorities to win recognition, only the international republic of Cyprus in the Greek-speaking south is acknowledged. When Keir Starmer last year made the first official visit to the island by a British prime minister in more than 50 years, Starmer refused to meet Tatar, instead holding talks with the Cypriot president, Nikos Christodoulides. Turkey, to this day, maintains about 35,000 troops in the north. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion On Saturday Tatar, a hardline nationalist who advocates a two-state solution to resolving the Cyprus problem, decried the pressure put on Khan, saying the British MP had visited the self-proclaimed mini-state at his own invitation. 'The fact that an elected MP was forced to resign from his position as the UK's trade envoy to Turkey simply for engaging with the Turkish Cypriot people is a warning sign for all those who believe in democracy and equality,' said Tatar. Diaspora groups in the UK where large numbers of Greek and Turkish Cypriots settled after 1974 said Khan's visit had been especially 'politically insensitive' because it coincided with the 51st anniversary of the invasion, the second phase of which began in mid-August 1974, as well as continuing UN efforts to restart talks to reunite the island. 'Afzal Khan was right to resign as the UK trade envoy to Turkey following his deeply inappropriate and unacceptable visit to the occupied north of Cyprus,' said Christos Karaolis, who heads the National Federation of Cypriots in Britain. 'His actions compromised the UK's longstanding foreign policy on Cyprus, contravened international law and disrespected the lived experiences of our UK Cypriot community, many of whom are refugees or descendants of those forcibly displaced by Turkey's 1974 invasion. We now look ahead to continued collaboration with HM government in support of a free and reunited Cyprus.'
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
Trump shifts ceasefire position ahead of Zelensky talks
Donald Trump has said he wants to bypass a ceasefire in Ukraine to move directly to a permanent peace agreement after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir a major shift of position, the US president said on Truth Social following Friday's summit that this would be "the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine", adding ceasefires often "do not hold up".Trump will welcome Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, to Washington on Monday and urged him to agree to a peace a phone call with Trump after the summit, Zelensky called for a real, lasting peace, while adding that "the fire must cease" and killings stop. Trump's comments indicate a dramatic shift in his position on how to end the war, having said only on Friday ahead of the summit that he wanted a ceasefire "rapidly".Ukraine's main demand has been a quick ceasefire before talks about a longer-term settlement, and Trump reportedly told European leaders beforehand that his goal for the summit was to obtain a ceasefire deal. Meanwhile, multiple news outlets reported on Saturday that Putin had presented an offer that involved Ukraine handing over complete control of its eastern Donetsk region, which is 70% occupied by Russia. In return, Russia would reportedly agree to front lines being frozen and other unspecified concessions were apparently US president, who has previously said any peace deal would involve "some swapping of territories", is said to have relayed the offer to Zelensky in a phone call following the summit. Just days ago, Ukraine's president ruled out ceding control of the Donbas, saying it could be used as a springboard for future Russian attacks. The BBC's US partner CBS has reported, citing diplomatic sources, that European diplomats were concerned Trump may try to pressure Zelensky on Monday into agreeing to deal terms he and Putin may have discussed at the summit. CBS quotes sources as saying that Trump told European leaders in a call after the summit that Putin would make "some concessions", but failed to specify what they were. In an interview with Fox News following Friday's summit, Trump was asked what advice he has for the Ukrainian leader, to which he responded by saying "make a deal"."Russia's a very big power and they're not," he had previously threatened "very severe consequences" if Putin did not agree to end the war, last month setting a deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire or face tough new sanctions, including secondary was announced by way of an agreement by either president following Friday's summit, but Trump insisted progress had been Saturday, Putin described the summit as "very useful" and said he had been able "set out our position" to Trump. "We had the opportunity, which we did, to talk about the genesis, about the causes of this crisis. It is the elimination of these root causes that should be the basis for settlement," the Russian president the "coalition of the willing" - a group of countries that have pledged to strengthen support for Ukraine that includes the UK, France, and Germany - will hold a call on Sunday afternoon before Zelensky's visit to the White House on Monday. A group of European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said "the next step must now be further talks including President Zelensky".The leaders said they were "ready to work" towards a trilateral summit with European support."We stand ready to uphold the pressure on Russia," they said, adding: "It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force."UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Trump's efforts to end the war, saying they had "brought us closer than ever before"."While progress has been made, the next step must be further talks involving President Zelenskyy. The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him," he in Kyiv, Ukrainians have described feeling "crushed" by the scenes from Alaska."I understand that for negotiations you shake hands, you can't just slap Putin in the face when he arrives. But this spectacle with the red carpet and the kneeling soldiers, it's terrible, it makes no sense," Serhii Orlyk, a 50-year-old veteran from the eastern Donetsk region said.
Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump ‘played into Putin's hands'
Donald Trump has 'played into Vladimir Putin 's hands' by dropping his demands for a Russian ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian politician has warned. By aligning himself with Putin's 'insincere' peace proposal, the US president risked repeating Neville Chamberlain's betrayal of Czechoslovakia at the Munich conference of 1938, Oleksandr Merezhko, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, said. 'If Trump is serious about supporting Putin's peace treaty idea without calling for a ceasefire first, then it looks very much like a betrayal,' Mr Merezhko told The Telegraph. 'It looks like Munich 1938,' he added referring to the decision to carve out Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland and award it to Hitler in the vain hope of staving off war. Mr Trump's effusive welcome of Putin at their summit in Alaska coupled with subsequent revelations of the concessions the US president appears to have made have triggered widespread anguish in Ukraine. Mr Merezhko said he believed Mr Trump had allowed Putin to hoodwink him into believing he was offering something bigger than a ceasefire, while remaining intent on destroying Ukraine. After emerging from his talks with the Russian leader, the US president said he now agreed with Putin that the best way to end the war was 'to go directly for a peace agreement and not a mere ceasefire agreement'. Yet in accepting that framework – and splitting from Ukraine and his European allies in doing so – Mr Trump had allowed himself to be captured by a long-held Kremlin narrative. 'When Putin talks of a peace treaty and addressing the root causes of the conflict, what he really means is the surrender and capitulation of Ukraine,' Mr Merezhko said. 'Trump has played into the hands of Putin. In choosing to support this idea it is a clear sign that unfortunately he is on the road to aligning with Putin.' In Kyiv, residents shared their dismay over the welcome given to Putin by Mr Trump. Olena and Yuriy, a couple who lost their son in the war, said they watched the Alaska summit unfold on television and were sickened by images of the Russian leader responsible for the invasion being welcomed on a red carpet. They spoke to The Telegraph as they put up a photograph of their son on the memorial wall of fallen soldiers at Saint Michael Square. 'The soldiers of the United States of America were unrolling this red carpet before Putin,' Yuriy said. 'For what reason is a person given such respect, who actually invaded our country?' In a nearby café, the events in Alaska were the topic of the day. 'We are supposed to be allies,' said Yevgheny Sofychuk, 39, who was getting a coffee during his morning dog walk. 'They behaved in a way that suggests they [Russia] are better.' The barista interrupts, 'All I want to say is that Trump is a chicken.' No ceasefire deal was reached at Friday's summit in Alaska and one Ukrainian MP described the outcome as one of the 'worst' possible for Ukraine. 'Putin has won some time for him and his troops,' she said. 'President Trump, in his own words, got a very good meeting. Ukraine got nothing.' On Saturday, after a call between Mr Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders, the US president outlined a new proposal under which Ukraine would concede the entirety of the Donbas – Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts – in exchange for Article 5-style security guarantees, though these guarantees would not involve Nato membership. It has also been suggested that in other regions, such as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the front line will be frozen, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to several media outlets. While the fate of the Donbas region is already part of public debate, some Ukrainians said they would rather continue fighting for the land, even at the risk of losing it, than concede it to Putin. 'Our boys have been fighting and dying and they will never give away those territories. They are not ready for this.' Katerina, 35, said. 'But on the other side, for us civilian citizens, we've been working hard. We've lost a lot of relatives, lost properties, lost emotional and nerve cells. We want it to be over.' While Ukraine's constitution forbids recognition of any territory ceded to Russia, Serhii, 44, argued for a national deliberation. 'I think we should conduct some kind of pan-Ukrainian referendum to decide. It's a tough choice and there are no good options,' he admitted. 'The people of Donbas should also be consulted. I know that many there don't care much who is in charge – Russians or Ukrainians. Some are fine with being under Russian rule – that's a fact.' He added that with so much mixed messaging, it is hard to know whether Ukraine still has any 'cards' to play. 'If it's really bad and we are not in a position to choose or decide, then why should they ask us anyway? But if we still have some cards, then why not bargain for a bit longer?' Standing beside Serhii was a friend, pale-faced and silent. He refused to give his name or comment, explaining only that he has just returned from Russian captivity and the subject was too sensitive. Back at the memorial wall of heroes, the photograph of Olena and Yuriy's son now fills a once-empty space. The wall runs the length of a city block, with large sections of blue plaster still bare — spaces that could yet be filled if Ukraine continues the fight. 'Even if Trump stops all this weapons support,' said his father, Yuriy, 'we Ukrainians, those who care about our future, will be standing up to the very end.'
