EU negotiator Phil Hogan and US trade envoy Robert Lighthizer agree to lower some of the import tariffs they levy on each other’s products. The European Commission has that on Friday communicated. It has been more than twenty years since both economic power blocs concluded such an agreement.
The US is halving import tariffs for, among other things, ready meals, lighters and crystal glassware. These are products of which European countries export a total of 160 million dollars (136 million euros) to the US per year.
On the other hand, the EU will completely stop tariffs on US lobster products. Countries in the European Union import $ 111 million worth of live and frozen lobster annually.
The new rules apply retroactively from 1 August 2020 and are provisionally valid for five years. It may be later decided to introduce the new entry rules indefinitely.
The new agreement should be the prelude to further adjustments to rates that both currently apply to each other’s products. Nothing has been announced about which products will be negotiated in the future.
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