EU Implements Tariff Commitments Under the EU-U.S. Trade Deal

Summary

On June 25, 2026, the Council of the European Union adopted two Regulations (together, the “Implementing Regulations”) implementing the EU’s tariff commitments under the Joint Statement on a European Union-United States Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair and Balanced Trade of August 21, 2025 (the “Joint Statement”). The Implementing Regulations consist of several key provisions that convert political commitments into binding EU law and represent a significant step toward stabilizing transatlantic trade relations following the series of U.S. tariff measures imposed in 2025.

• First, the Regulation on the adjustment of customs duties on imports of certain goods originating in the United States and opening of tariff quotas for imports of certain goods originating in the United States (the “Main Regulation”):[1]

1. totally eliminates import duties on most U.S. industrial goods, including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, textiles, metals, machinery, vehicles, aircraft, and other manufactured goods;
2. reduces import duties on certain fresh produce (though minimum price protections remain); and
3. creates twenty (20) duty-free or reduced-duty import quotas for U.S. agricultural and seafood products, including pork, bison, dairy, cheese, nuts, soybean oil, and processed foods.

• Second, the Regulation on the non-application of customs duties on imports of certain goods (the “Lobster Regulation”)[2] reinstates the 0% import duty regime on U.S. lobster imports (which had expired in July 2025). The Lobster Regulation also expands its scope to include prepared or preserved lobster, which was not covered under the prior regime. The measure applies retroactively from August 1, 2025, with importers entitled to reimbursement of any customs duties paid in excess during the interim period.
• Third, the Implementing Regulations contain safeguard and suspension mechanisms that allow the European Commission (“EU Commission”) to suspend the Implementing Regulations if:
• the U.S. fails to implement or undermines the Joint Statement, discriminates against EU operators, or if objective circumstances change; and
• an “import-surge” of U.S. imports causes or threatens to cause serious injury to EU industry. Investigations may be opened by the EU Commission or at the request of three or more EU Member States or producers of the relevant EU industry.
• Fourth, the Implementing Regulations improve EU market access for covered U.S.-origin goods and may lower costs for EU importers. In practice, however, benefits will depend on correct tariff classifications, compliance with applicable origin rules and, for tariff-rate quota products, access to available quota volumes.

Affected businesses should review eligibility of U.S. products to the benefits, assess potential lobster import duty reimbursement claims, and update pricing and supply contracts to address the risk of future suspension of tariff benefits.

Background – Transatlantic Trade Tensions

In the course of 2025, the Unted States imposed a series of tariffs that affected EU imports, including: (i) 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum and their derivative products (later raised to 50%); (ii) a 10% baseline tariff on all imports; (iii) 25% tariffs on automobiles and automobile parts; and (iv) 50% tariffs on copper.

On July 27, 2025, the President of the EU Commission and the President of the United States reached a political agreement to reduce tariffs, as reflected in the Joint Statement.[3] The key commitments under the Joint Statement were as follows:

• The U.S. committed to: (i) reduce the applicable tariff rate on EU imports to an all-inclusive ceiling of 15%; and (ii) apply the most-favored-nation tariff for EU imports of specified products, including unavailable natural resources such as cork, all aircraft and aircraft parts, generic pharmaceuticals and their ingredients, and chemical precursors.
• The EU committed to: (i) eliminate import duties on all U.S. industrial goods; and (ii) provide preferential market access for U.S. seafood and agricultural goods, including tree nuts, dairy products, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, processed foods, planting seeds, soybean oil, and pork and bison meat.

The EU Implementing Regulations

The Implementing Regulations: (i) remove customs duties on most U.S. industrial goods and certain agricultural products; (ii) provide preferential market access for specified U.S. seafood and agricultural products through tariff rate quotas and reduced tariffs; and (iii) extend the suspension of duties on lobster imports, including processed lobster. We set out below the key measures of the Implementing Regulations.

The Main Regulation

The Main Regulation totally eliminates tariffs on (i) most industrial U.S. goods, covering chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, textiles, metals, machinery, vehicles, aircraft, instruments, furniture, toys, and other manufactured goods; and (ii) certain agricultural and food products such as potatoes, onions, fruit, seeds, vegetable oils, prepared vegetables, and juices.[4]

For fresh fruits and vegetables subject to the EU’s Entry Price System, the Main Regulation provides only partial tariff relief. The Entry Price System imposes minimum price thresholds on 15 categories of fresh produce—including fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, globe artichokes, courgettes, citrus fruit, table grapes, apples, pears, cherries, and plums—to protect domestic producers from underpriced imports. Under the Main Regulation, only the percentage-based component of the import duty is removed (known as the “ad valorem” duty); the fixed “entry price” duty remains in place, preserving a price-floor mechanism for these products.[5]

The Main Regulation also opens 20 tariff-rate quotas for U.S. agricultural and seafood products, including meat, dairy, nuts, soybean oil, animal feed, seafood, unprocessed salmon, processed foods, non-alcoholic beverages, and certain food or chemical inputs.[6] Tariff quotas allow a limited quantity of specific goods to be imported into the EU at a reduced or zero rate of the normal duties applicable to imported goods during a specific period of time.

To benefit from the reduced rates under the Main Regulation, goods must “originate” in the Unted States—i.e., the goods must have been “wholly obtained” in the Unted States (entirely produced in the Unted States) or, where more than one country is involved in their production, must have undergone their last substantial transformation in the Unted States.

The Lobster Regulation

The Lobster Regulation reinstates the elimination of all customs duties on U.S. lobster imports, which had expired on July 31, 2025, and expands the scope of the measure to include processed lobster. Significantly, the measure applies retroactively from August 1, 2025. EU national customs authorities must reimburse, upon request, any import duty paid in excess for covered products between August 1, 2025 and the date of entry into force of the Lobster Regulation.

Entry into Force and Application

The Main Regulation enters into force the day after its publication in the EU Official Journal, which is expected in the coming weeks. It applies until December 31, 2029.

The Lobster Regulation enters into force on the day of its publication in the EU Official Journal, which is also expected in the coming weeks. It applies retroactively from August 1, 2025 until July 31, 2030.

Safeguard and Suspension Mechanisms

The Implementing Regulations include several mechanisms that allow the EU to suspend the preferential tariffs if circumstances change.

Under the Main Regulation, the EU Commission may suspend the tariff benefits if the Unted States: (i) fails to implement the Joint Statement; (ii) undermines the Joint Statement’s objectives; (iii) discriminates against EU operators; or (iv) if objective circumstances change as compared to those existing at the time of the Joint Statement. The EU Commission may also act where there is sufficient indication that such conduct may occur. The Regulation does not explain or define the types of changed circumstances that will qualify as “objective.”

In addition, the EU Commission may open an investigation into whether increased U.S. imports are causing, or threaten to cause, serious injury to EU industry; the Commission may do so on its own initiative, at the request of three or more EU Member States, or in response to a request from EU industry. For these purposes, “EU industry” includes industrial, seafood, and agricultural producers.

The Lobster Regulation contains a suspension mechanism tied to U.S. compliance with the Joint Statement and changes in objective circumstances.

The Implementing Regulations are binding in their entirety and directly applicable in all 27 EU Member States once in force, without the need for national implementing legislation.

Implications for Businesses

The Implementing Regulations carry several possible implications for businesses importing goods to the EU.

First, U.S. exporters gain substantially improved access to the EU market, with import duties eliminated or significantly reduced on a wide range of products. The Implementing Regulations may also materially reduce costs for EU companies importing U.S. goods.

Second, these changes underscore the need for businesses to verify carefully their eligibility for the various new provisions. Tariff benefits under the Main Regulation depend on verifiable “U.S. origin” of goods. For tariff-rate quota products, access depends on available quota volumes. For fresh produce subject to the EU’s Entry Price System, the benefit is more limited: the ad valorem duty component is suspended, but the specific “entry price” duty remains in place to protect EU producers from underpriced imports.

Third, lobster suppliers should assess reimbursement opportunities. The Lobster Regulation applies retroactively from August 1, 2025, and allows importers to request reimbursement from national customs authorities for customs duties paid above the applicable 0% rate on covered lobster products between August 1, 2025 and the Lobster Regulation’s entry into force.

Fourth, the Main Regulation’s safeguard mechanisms allowing the EU Commission to suspend tariff benefits if increased U.S. imports cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury to EU industry suggest that EU producers should closely monitor import volumes and pricing trends.

Fifth, the fact that the EU Commission may also suspend the Implementing Regulations if the U.S. fails to implement, or otherwise undermines, the Joint Statement, or if relevant circumstances change, suggests that businesses should address this suspension risk in pricing, sourcing decisions, and tariff pass-through provisions in commercial contracts.