EU Approves Legislation to Implement US Trade Deal

The European Union has formally approved legislation to implement a major trade agreement with the United States, finalizing its commitments just ahead of a July 4 deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump. The Council of the European Union adopted the two regulations on Thursday, June 25, 2026, following approval by the European Parliament earlier in the month.

The move fulfills the EU's side of a framework deal first outlined in a joint statement in August 2025. The core of the agreement sees the EU eliminating its remaining customs duties on U.S. industrial goods and granting preferential access for selected American seafood and agricultural products through reduced tariffs and tariff rate quotas. It also extends a suspension on duties for U.S. lobster imports. In return, the United States will maintain a general tariff on most European imports at a rate of 15 percent.

Officials described the approval as a critical step to ensure stable and predictable transatlantic trade between the world's two largest economic blocs, whose bilateral trade surpassed 1.9 trillion dollars last year. Cyprus's Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Michael Damianos, whose country holds the...