Europe’s agriculture sector “gets nothing” from the outline deal on trade between the EU and the US, the bloc’s farmers have argued.
A “framework agreement” released yesterday (21 August) by Washington and Brussels said the US would levy a 15% on EU goods.
The US has “committed” to place a lower “most favoured nation” tariff on a limited set of products, including aircraft parts and generic pharmaceuticals, from the start of September.
Meanwhile, the EU said it “intends” to provide “preferential market access for a wide range of US seafood and agricultural goods”. The products include dairy products, fruit and vegetables, “processed foods” and pork.
EU farming lobby group Copa-Cogeca hit out at what it said was a “one-sided” agreement.
“This deal grants improved market access for US agri-food products, while EU producers are left facing higher tariffs, now rising to 15%, on key export products,” Copa-Cogeca said in a statement. “This one-sided outcome is not only unjustified. It is deeply damaging to a sector already under pressure from rising costs, regulatory constraints, and increasing global competition. In practical terms, EU agriculture is being asked to accept weaker trading terms, while the US reaps new advantages.”
The EU’s reduced tariffs on US foods will be implemented through product-specific “tariff rate quotas”, or TRQs, which Brussels said will be published “in due course”.
The EU argues the outline trade deal gives its exporters certainty and predictability when shipping to the US. In a statement, the European Commission said: “High-quality and traditional EU food and drink products, are in high demand, and this deal gives EU exporters the stability they need to continue exporting.”
Beef, poultry and rice, Brussels noted, are excluded from the agreement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added: “Faced with a challenging situation, we have delivered for our member states and industry and restored clarity and coherence to transatlantic trade. This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential.”
Nonetheless, Copa-Cogeca said the agreement was “a strategic error that undermines the EU’s own farmers, agri-cooperatives and rural economies”.
It added: “Competitor countries, such as for example Australia and Argentina, will continue to benefit from lower 10% tariffs, meaning EU producers are now at an even greater disadvantage in a key market.
“This agreement confirms a worrying trend: agriculture is being consistently deprioritised in EU trade negotiations.”
