The European Union agreed early Wednesday morning to implement a trade deal with the United States, avoiding a direct clash with US president Donald Trump.

Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on two regulations, eliminating tariffs on all US industrial goods and providing preferential market access for certain US agricultural and seafood products, in line with the EU commitments made in the EU-US Joint Statement of 21 August 2025.

The agreed final texts will now be put forward for formal adoption by the European Parliament and the Council over the coming weeks, to ensure their rapid entry into force.

Under that pact, the regulations offer the EU industry guarantees against possible trade disruptions through a “safeguard clause.”

Regular monitoring of trade flows will allow for swift action to be taken in the event of an injurious or potentially injurious increase in exports from the US.

As agreed among the parties, the regulations give the EU the necessary tools to enforce commitments made in the EU-US Joint Statement. In specifically defined circumstances, the regulations would allow the EU to respond by suspending in full or in part its tariff concessions.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Trump agreed on the key parameters of the EU-US deal in July 2025.

The US committed to maintain a maximum tariff ceiling of 15% for most EU exports, including cars and car parts, and to provide exclusions from additional tariffs for a number of important product groups such as unavailable natural resources, aircraft and parts and generic pharmaceuticals.

In return, the EU committed to eliminate tariffs on all industrial goods and improve market access for certain non-sensitive agri-food products.

The partners also agreed to keep working together to further reduce tariffs on more products.

EU-US trade in goods and services has doubled over the last decade, surpassing €1.8 trillion in 2025, with €911bn of trade in goods and €865bn of trade in services. Over €4.9bn of goods and services cross the Atlantic every day.

“A deal is a deal, and the EU honours its commitments,” said Ursula von der Leyen in a social media post welcoming the agreement.

“I welcome the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council on reducing tariffs for US industrial exports to the EU. This means we will soon deliver on our part of the EU-US Joint Statement, as promised. I now call on the co-legislators to move swiftly and finalise the process,” she added.