The European Union has advanced legislation to implement its side of a trade agreement with the United States, after months of uncertainty over tariff threats and import levies under President Donald Trump.
The European Parliament voted 417 in favour, 154 against, and recorded 71 abstentions. Lawmakers added safeguards to the legislation, reflecting ongoing concerns that the United States may not fully uphold the deal negotiated in Turnberry, Scotland, last July.
These safeguards include sunrise, sunset, and suspension clauses, and require the US to remove the 50% duties imposed a month after the Turnberry agreement on steel and aluminium used in products such as wind turbines and motorcycles. European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic described the vote as a “crucial step” that delivers certainty for EU businesses. The US Mission to the EU welcomed the vote, calling it a positive development for transatlantic trade.
The legislation will remove EU import duties on US industrial goods, improve access for American agricultural produce, and maintain zero duties for US lobsters, which were initially agreed with the Trump administration in 2020.
Parliamentarians cautioned that the vote does not conclude the process. Representatives from the European Parliament and member state governments must negotiate final texts before a final approval vote, expected in April or May.
Concerns over the deal have persisted among EU lawmakers, who argue that the agreement is uneven. The US remains the EU’s largest trading partner, with exports to the United States reaching a record €555 billion in 2025. Many parliamentarians highlighted that the EU must cut most import duties while the US maintains a broad 15% rate on European goods.
Bernd Lange, chair of the parliament’s trade committee, said the agreement “was not really an agreement at all,” while Belgian Social Democrat Kathleen Van Brempt described it as a “bad deal” that fails to provide stability or protection from tariffs and threats.
The vote had been scheduled earlier in the year but was delayed after Trump threatened tariffs on European allies that did not support his proposed acquisition of Greenland, followed by the imposition of an import surcharge.
The sunrise clause makes EU duty reductions conditional on the US honouring its commitments, the sunset clause sets an expiration date of 31 March 2028 for the tariff concessions, and a suspension clause allows the EU to halt the deal if Washington breaches the agreement or if a surge of imports damages European markets.
Lawmakers said the added provisions were necessary to protect EU industries while still pursuing closer trade ties with its largest partner. The legislation represents a key step in balancing market access for US products with safeguards for European producers, even as transatlantic relations continue to face uncertainty.
