The Council of the European Union formally approved two regulations to implement the EU’s tariff commitments under its trade statement with the United States, removing remaining customs duties on US industrial goods and creating preferential access for selected US seafood and agricultural products.
The move completes the EU’s legislative process for the tariff measures agreed in the EU-US Joint Statement of August 21, 2025. The Council said the regulations are intended to support a stable and predictable transatlantic trade relationship while preserving safeguards to protect European businesses and workers.
The measures will eliminate the remaining EU customs duties on US industrial goods. They will also introduce tariff rate quotas and reduced tariffs for certain US seafood and non-sensitive agricultural products. A separate regulation extends the suspension of duties on lobster imports, including processed lobster, from all countries on a most favoured nation basis.
Michael Damianos, Cyprus’s minister of energy, commerce and industry, said the EU remained committed to an open trade partnership with the United States, but added that openness must be balanced with protection for European interests.
The regulations include reinforced safeguard and suspension mechanisms. The European Commission will be able to act in cases of significant import surges that cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury to EU operators. The EU will also be able to suspend tariff preferences if Washington fails to respect its commitments, undermines the objectives of the joint statement, or disrupts balanced trade relations through discriminatory measures.
The two regulations will now be signed and published in the Official Journal of the European Union. They will enter into force the day after publication.
The main regulation will apply until the end of 2029. By June 30, 2029, the Commission must present an assessment of the measures’ impact on EU-US trade flows, tariff revenue and economic effects, including the impact on small and medium-sized businesses.
The EU and the United States remain the world’s largest bilateral trade and investment partners, representing nearly 30% of global trade in goods and services and 43% of global GDP. EU-US trade in goods and services surpassed €1.7 trillion in 2025.
