US Formally Implements EU Trade Deal Terms, Confirming 15 Percent Tariff on Automobiles

The Trump administration on Sept. 25 formally implemented its trade deal with the European Union, thus confirming a 15 percent tariff on automobiles and automobile parts coming from the bloc.

In a notice published on the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative said that the tariff rate on EU autos and parts is retroactive to Aug. 1.

The document also specifies hundreds of other products from EU countries that will be exempt from new tariffs, including products in the aircraft and pharmaceutical industries. Other exempted items include aluminum, nickel, and cobalt ores and concentrates, and other metals and minerals.

On July 27, Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that they had reached a trade deal, days before the Aug. 1 deadline, when 30 percent U.S. tariffs on EU goods were set to take effect.

In a preview of the deal, Trump said the bloc would purchase $750 billion worth of U.S. energy, and that tariffs on European imports entering the United States, including automobiles, would be set at 15 percent.

The Trump administration had imposed a baseline 10 percent tariff on the EU in early April, with 25 percent tariffs on automobiles.

In response, the EU approved two packages of countermeasures to the U.S. tariffs, but as the deadline for their implementation drew close in early August, they suspended them for six months while Washington and Brussels worked on a joint statement that provided greater detail on the new trade agreement.

‘Important Step’

Germany’s car lobbying group on Sept. 25 welcomed the news that the United States was retroactively lowering tariffs on vehicles.

“This is an important step,” Hildegard Müller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, said in a statement.

“At the same time, it should be noted that even the U.S. tariffs now in force … remain a tangible challenge for the German automotive industry.”

She called on the EU to continue lobbying for improved transatlantic trade conditions.

The United States and the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, on Aug. 21 published a framework agreement on reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade, which detailed trade arrangements.

Von der Leyen said at the time that it was not the end of the process, and that the European Commission would “continue to engage with the U.S. to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential. At the same time, we continue to diversify our international trade partnerships, creating EU jobs and prosperity.”

Trade Deficit

After the announcement of the trade deal in July, senior figures in the EU reacted with a combination of relief and criticism.

Von der Leyen, who had met with Trump in Scotland during the U.S. president’s trip to the UK, said that 15 percent tariffs for European carmakers “is not to be underestimated, but it is the best we could get.”

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on X at the time that the deal announcement was “a moment of relief but not of celebration.”

De Wever said he hoped that the United States would “turn away again from the delusion of protectionism and once again embrace the value of free trade—a cornerstone of shared prosperity.”

François Bayrou, the French prime minister at the time, called the deal a “dark day for Europe,” criticizing it as “submission” to the U.S. president.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal, saying that the United States and the EU would now avoid an “unnecessary escalation in transatlantic trade relations.”

Merz said on July 27 that Germany’s export-oriented economy, with its large automotive sector, would have been hit hard without this agreement.

“We have thus been able to safeguard our core interests, even if I would have certainly welcomed further easing of transatlantic trade,” he said.

On April 2, the Trump administration announced that dozens of countries would be subject to reciprocal tariffs to correct what the president has described as the unfair treatment of U.S. exporters.

Those tariffs were meant to come into effect on April 9, but Trump later introduced a 90-day pause, which was then extended to Aug. 1, to allow more time for negotiations.

According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the United States had a total goods trade deficit with the EU of $235.9 billion in 2024, a 13.6 percent increase over 2023.

Reuters and Jacob Burg contributed to this report.