EU to eliminate tariffs on US goods from 1 July, meeting Turnberry deal ahead of Trump deadline
From 1 July, most American industrial and agricultural products enter the EU duty-free, fulfilling last year's Turnberry trade agreement and heading off Trump's threatened retaliation.
The European Union will eliminate customs duties on most American industrial and agricultural products starting Wednesday 1 July 2026, implementing the core commitment of the trade deal struck with Washington at Turnberry, Scotland, last summer. Items such as US lobster and a range of industrial goods will gain duty-free access, giving European consumers cheaper imports.
Promise kept. This is good news for transatlantic relations.
The enabling legislation was published in the EU's Official Journal on Tuesday 30 June and takes effect the following day.
The Turnberry deal and Trump's deadline
The agreement, negotiated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump in August 2025, caps American tariffs on EU imports at 15% in exchange for the EU abolishing its own levies on US goods. The deal averted a looming trade war between the two blocs.
Trump had set a deadline of 4 July 2026, the 250th anniversary of US independence, for the EU to fulfil its side, warning that otherwise "tariffs would unfortunately immediately rise to a much higher level."
- Turnberry agreement: US caps EU tariffs at 15%; EU agrees to eliminate US duties
- EU publishes enabling legislation in Official Journal
- Tariff elimination takes effect for US industrial and farm goods
- Trump's deadline for EU implementation; had threatened higher tariffs if not met
- Sunset clause: deal expires automatically unless extended
Sunset clause and steel safeguard
In May, the European Parliament secured a compromise with member states that adds a sunset clause to the pact. Under it, the trade agreement expires automatically on 31 December 2029, after the end of Trump's second term, unless an extension is voted beforehand. The Commission can also suspend the tariff concessions if Trump does not remove the 50% surtax on hundreds of steel and aluminium products by year-end.
Constructive exchanges continue at a technical and political level, and the Commission will continue to work with the United States so that all the commitments made last August are implemented in good faith.
New pressure over digital taxes
Trade frictions extend beyond the core deal. Last Friday, Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on any European country that introduces a tax on US digital services. The Commission confirmed that talks with the US government continue on that front.
