Global Daily Tax News, Trump Pressures EU To Endorse Trade Deal By July 4, (May 12, 2026)

The EU said it expects to have concluded negotiations with the US on the implementation of the EU-US free trade deal by early July.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump discussed implementation of the pact in a recent call.

Earlier, Trump had threatened to raise tariffs on EU goods substantially if the deal is not implemented by July 4, 2026 – Independence Day and the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. Specifically, he has said duties on EU-made cars and heavy goods vehicles would be raised to 25 percent from 15 percent.

Following that call, von der Leyen stated: "I had a very good call with President Trump. We discussed the situation in the Middle East and our close coordination with regional partners. We are united that Iran must never posses a nuclear weapon. Recent events have clearly shown that the risks to regional stability and global security are too great."

"We also discussed the EU– trade deal. We remain fully committed, on both sides, to its implementation. Good progress is being made towards tariff reduction by early July."

Background

In July 2025, the EU and the US reached a political agreement on tariff and trade issues (the so-called Turnberry Deal). The terms were outlined in detail in an August 2025 joint statement announcing an EU-US Framework Agreement. The Commission then published two legislative proposals aimed at implementing certain tariff aspects of the EU-US Framework Agreement.

The EU then decided to shelve implementation of the Turnberry Deal in February 2026, following the US Supreme Court's ruling that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unlawful.

The deal with the US would have involved establishing a single, all-inclusive US tariff ceiling of 15 percent for EU goods. The Commission earlier said, as of August 1, the US would apply this maximum tariff on the vast majority of EU exports. That 15 percent rate was to be an all-inclusive tariff rate and represented a ceiling, including the US most favoured nation (MFN) tariff that was previously stacked on top of additional tariffs the US introduced, the Commission had said.

The EU was to eliminate already low duties on industrial goods from the US. The deal also included commitments from the EU to work with the US on reducing non-tariff barriers. Further, the EU was to procure US liquified natural gas, oil, and nuclear energy products from US producers worth about USD750bn over the next three years, and had proposed to purchase EUR40bn of AI chips.