The EU Council today gave the final green light for the EU-U.S. trade agreement to take effect, adopting the two regulations that implement the tariff commitments set out in the EU-U.S. Joint Statement of August 21, 2025.

In practical terms, the agreement is designed to reduce trade tensions between Brussels and Washington by removing or lowering duties on a range of U.S. products entering the European market, while keeping U.S. tariffs on most European exports capped at 15%. It is part of a broader compromise aimed at stabilising transatlantic trade after a period of tariff disputes, particularly over industrial goods, steel, aluminium and agricultural products.

Today’s approval completes the EU’s ratification process, following the European Parliament’s “green light” last week. This allows the agreement to enter into force before the July 4 deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to a Council statement, the completion of the legislative process and the final approval of the agreement reaffirm the EU’s commitment to a stable, predictable and mutually beneficial transatlantic trade relationship, while maintaining the necessary safeguards to protect European economic interests.

The two regulations remove the remaining EU customs duties on U.S. industrial products and give certain U.S. seafood and non-sensitive agricultural products easier access to the European market through tariff-rate quotas and reduced tariffs. They also extend the suspension of tariffs on lobster imports, including processed lobster, from all countries under most-favoured-nation treatment.

The agreement is part of the compromise reached last summer between Brussels and Washington. Under that arrangement, the EU committed to eliminating most tariffs on U.S. products, while the U.S. agreed to limit the tariffs it had imposed on European imports to 15%.

A special safeguard mechanism is included, allowing the European Commission to act swiftly if there is a significant increase in imports from the U.S. that could harm European producers.

At the same time, the EU reserves the right to suspend the planned preferences if the U.S. fails to honour its commitments. This includes, among other things, commitments related to additional duties on products containing steel and aluminium.

The EU-U.S. trade agreement will enter into force the day after the two regulations are published in the Official Journal of the EU.

The main regulation will remain in effect until the end of 2029. By June 30 of that year, the European Commission will submit an assessment of its impact on EU-U.S. trade flows, tariff revenue and the wider economy, accompanied, if necessary, by a proposal to extend its application. The regulation on lobster imports will apply retroactively from August 1, 2025, and will remain in force until July 31, 2030.

The EU and the U.S. maintain the world’s largest bilateral trade and investment relationship, accounting for nearly 30% of global trade in goods and services and 43% of global GDP.

Bilateral trade in goods and services exceeded 1.7 trillion euros in 2025, while mutual investments between the two sides exceeded 4.8 trillion euros in 2024.