Trade

First green light from the European Parliament to ratify the EU-US tariffs agreement

from our correspondent Beda Romano

2' min read

Translated by AI
Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI
Versione italiana

BRUSSELS - After weeks of back-and-forth, the European Parliament's trade affairs committee gave the green light on Thursday 19 March to two EU regulations that are to be used to put into practice the economic agreement the EU reached with the US last summer.

The two texts must now pass through the plenary and then be negotiated with the Council in order to finally enter into force.

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The vote showed 29 votes in favour, nine votes against and one abstention.

The vote in plenary is scheduled for Thursday of next week.

The agreement provides for the reduction of European tariffs on many imports from the US. In return, the same agreement provides that Washington may impose horizontal tariffs of 15% on goods from the EU.

It is precisely this dichotomy that has raised many doubts in the European establishment.

A number of safeguards were included in the texts approved in committee, in particular if the United States failed to keep its side of the bargain.

The trade affairs committee of the European Parliament should have approved the two regulations earlier this year.

However, it suspended work after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs if European allies did not support his proposed takeover of Greenland.

The safeguards included in the text made it possible to find a compromise among MEPs.

The message is addressed both to Washington and to European public opinion, which is increasingly resentful towards the US. In a comment on X, trade committee chairman Bernd Lange, a German Social Democrat, spoke of a 'broad cross-party majority'.

He added: "No blind landings. We always hold the steering wheel firmly in our hands!".

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