New framework agreement imposes a 15% US tariff on all European goods

New framework agreement

The President of the European Commission and President Trump announced on 27 July 2025 at a press conference that an agreement had been reached on a US tariff of 15% on all goods with EU origins.

For the time being, neither the EU Commission nor the White House has published further details about the agreement, which is currently a framework agreement. The agreement must be approved by the EU member states (Council) and the EU Parliament. This is expected to happen within the next few days.

In addition, the agreement still needs to be negotiated in detail, including areas where a common US-EU understanding of the overall framework must be confirmed. This may take some time, as seen in the already concluded US-UK and US-Japan agreements, where the details are still being negotiated.

As mentioned, we know that a US tariff of 15% will be introduced on all EU goods. The tariff rate represents a total tariff of 15% on EU goods and not an additional tariff to the regular US tariff rates. However, steel, aluminium, and their products will continue to be subject to the special US tariff of 50%.

There will still be EU goods that will be subject to a zero-tariff rate in the US. These goods include, according to the EU Commission's press release, "all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generics, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials." These product terms generally seem to cover the goods that the US exempted from the general US additional tariff, which was introduced with effect from 5 April 2025. 

As is known, the US exemption list of 5 April 2025 also includes pharmaceutical products. According to the agreement, finished pharmaceutical products (Chapter 30) will in future be subject to a 15% tariff. However, products classified under Chapter 29 may still be exempt from duty, as mentioned above for "certain generics".

We will, of course, get back to you with further information as we receive further details about both the framework agreement and the specifics that will apply.