European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has urged the United States to return swiftly to the terms of the trade pact agreed by both sides in July 2025, which capped most US tariffs on European goods at 15 per cent.
Šefčovič met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Paris on Tuesday for talks lasting an hour and a half, the European Commission has said.
The encounter has taken place after US President Donald Trump threatened over the weekend to impose 25 per cent tariffs on European cars, in retaliation for the European Union’s slow pace in fully approving the agreement, which is still being debated in a trilogue between the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.
During the meeting, Šefčovič stressed the importance of the pact’s key provisions entering into force before its first anniversary in the summer.
He also briefed the US delegation on the “most likely” timetable for its conclusion, “respecting the prerogatives of the co-legislators”, a Commission spokesperson has said.
The commissioner and the US trade representative have agreed it would be “useful and important” to maintain “the closest possible contact” to clarify each side’s position during the implementation process.
They have also agreed to step up engagement at both political and technical levels and to push “more strongly a positive agenda” on less contentious elements of the deal, such as steel and critical raw materials.
The EU-US agreement is in the final stage of negotiation after being suspended by the European Parliament in January, following Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.
It has been back on track since March, on condition that the agreement be halted if the White House imposes new duties or makes fresh economic threats against EU member states.
The framework reached last summer was originally presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a way to ward off a broader trade confrontation, after months of tariff threats from the White House.
For Brussels, locking in the 15 per cent ceiling has become a priority as the bloc seeks to shield key sectors, including car manufacturing, from any fresh disruption ahead of a tight legislative window before the summer break.
Tuesday’s Paris meeting is the most senior contact between both sides since Trump’s car tariff warning, with the European Commission keen to avoid a fresh cycle of tit-for-tat measures that could derail the deal at the eleventh hour.
