EU deadlocks US trade deal
- EU negotiators failed to finish the bloc’s side of the 2025 U.S. trade deal on May 7, leaving Trump’s threatened 25% EU auto tariff hanging. - The sticking point is safeguards: Parliament wants the deal suspended if Washington backtracks, while member states resist hard conditions and a 2028 cutoff. - Continental says a tyre tariff alone could cost mid- to high-double-digit millions of euros, showing how uncertainty is already hitting planning.
Trade policy is the story here, but the real stakes are cars, parts, and industrial supply chains. The EU was supposed to finish legislation that would put its side of last year’s U.S. trade deal into force. It didn’t happen. Instead, negotiators left Brussels on May 7 saying they had made progress but still had “some way to go,” while Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on EU cars and trucks to 25% keeps hanging over the talks. ### What is actually stuck? The EU is trying to implement the Turnberry deal struck in Scotland in July 2025, which set a 15% tariff framework on most goods and included EU moves to cut duties on U.S. industrial goods and widen access for some U.S. farm and seafood products. But the European Parliament and EU governments still have not agreed on one common legal text, so the tariff cuts cannot take effect yet. ### Why didn’t they just sign it? Because the fight is no longer only about tariffs. It is about trust. Parliament wants stronger safeguards — basically, a kill switch if Washington stops honoring the deal. One proposal would let the EU suspend the arrangement if the U.S. fails to comply. Another would end the EU’s tariff concessions entirely on March 31, 2028. Many national governments think that goes too far and would make the deal harder to close. ### Why is Trump’s car threat such a big deal? Because autos are the pressure point. Trump said on May 1 that tariffs on EU cars and trucks would rise to 25% from 15%, blaming the bloc for not complying with the agreement. Germany would be one of the biggest losers because it sends a large share of Europe’s auto exports to the U.S. And once car tariffs move, parts makers and suppliers get pulled in fast. ### Where do tyres come into this? Tyres are the useful tell. Continental said on May
