The U.S. and the EU reached a trade deal this week that will include a 15% U.S. tariff on most EU exports and will eliminate duties on both sides for other items, including aircraft parts and certain semiconductor equipment, agricultural products and more. The EU also will buy advanced American AI chips along with more American energy as part of the bloc’s effort to phase out purchases from Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The EU on July 24 published an updated list of retaliatory tariffs it may impose against the U.S. in case it can't reach an agreement with the Trump administration to reverse threatened U.S. duties on steel, aluminum, cars and other goods (see 2507140040). The list includes more than 200 pages of commodity codes, with increased duties of up to 30% on agricultural goods, aircraft, cars, medical devices and electronics. The retaliatory duties will take effect Aug. 7 if the two sides don't come to a solution, the EU said.
The U.S. should impose new export controls on the subsystems of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and double down on enforcement for exports of advanced AI chips, including by potentially mandating that chip exporters use location-tracking features, the White House said in its new AI action plan. While the plan calls for tighter controls against China and other “strategic adversaries,” it also said the U.S. should strike deals with other countries to export American AI systems around the world.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the White House may be in favor of a bill that would authorize new sanctions and tariffs against Russia’s supporters, and he urged the EU to put in place similar measures.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., announced July 17 that he has filed a discharge petition to force House floor consideration of his bill to increase sanctions and export controls on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The president of Indonesia confirmed to reporters in Jakarta that he agreed to 19% tariffs, in exchange for buying more wheat, soybeans, fuel and Boeing aircraft.
The Trump administration will allow semiconductor firm Nvidia to sell its previously restricted advanced H20 chips to China as part of an agreement Washington and Beijing reached during trade talks in recent months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
The chief negotiator for the EU told reporters in Brussels July 14 that his team had thought "we are very close to an agreement," though there were still "quite large gaps" on what the U.S. was offering and what the EU could accept on goods subject to national security tariffs, such as cars and steel, and, perhaps in the future, pharmaceuticals.
The U.S. government, together with industry, needs to set clearer guardrails around sensitive technology shipments destined to China, two panelists said during an event on export controls last week. Another panelist questioned whether the Trump administration is willing to set tougher rules, saying Beijing appears to have recently gained extra leverage and adding that the U.S. has for years failed to deter companies from flouting restrictions against China.
The head of the trade committee in the EU parliament said one of the sticking points in the negotiations with the U.S. is whether 50% tariffs on steel and 25% tariffs on cars and car parts continue to be collected as the two parties move from an agreement in principle to a detailed agreement.