EU-US Trade Pact Sees Progress Where Bloc May Accept 15% Tariff On Most Goods: Report

Steel and aluminum imports exceeding agreed-upon quotas could reportedly face duties as high as 50%.

A U.S.-European Union trade deal is reportedly witnessing progress toward an agreement where the EU could accept a 15% tariff on most products.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the bloc’s member states are pushing to ensure the tariff rate covers key sectors, including the automotive industry. Meanwhile, steel and aluminum imports exceeding agreed-upon quotas could face duties as high as 50%, the report said.

It added that EU officials remain optimistic that a deal can be finalized soon. However, they caution that any agreement still requires the approval of President Donald Trump, whose decisions on trade policy remain closely held and difficult to predict.

The talks follow a flurry of U.S. negotiations in recent days with countries including Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Previous reports have indicated that the EU plans to impose 30% tariffs on goods worth more than $1 billion if no trade deal is reached, and President Donald Trump follows through with the threat of imposing the same rate on most of the bloc’s imports starting August 1.

According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the EU’s threat is just a negotiating tactic. “Any kind of escalation in trade problems will always hit them worse,” he said during an interview with Bloomberg. 

U.S. markets were trending higher in midday trade on Wednesday. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.47% and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) gained over 0.85%. The Invesco QQQ Series 1 Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100, edged 0.02% higher.

On Stockwits, retail sentiment around SPY dipped to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ territory a day ago.

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