The EU approved the trade agreement with the US before the deadline

The trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, which will come into effect after the EU's final approval, is expected to inject some stability into the bilateral relationship amid the ongoing tensions in economic relations.

On Thursday (June 25th), the member states of the European Union approved the trade agreement with the United States, ending the intermittent approval process that had lasted for nearly a year and which had almost led to the entire agreement being abandoned. According to the agreement, the European Union will eliminate tariffs on industrial products and some agricultural products from the United States. In return, the United States will set the tariff ceiling for EU goods at 15%.

Bloomberg reported that the implementation of the agreement might bring about some immediate easing of the tense transatlantic relations. US President Trump had threatened to impose new tariffs on the EU if it failed to fulfill the agreement by July 4th. However, there are still differences between the two sides on issues such as metal tariffs and technology regulation, which might undermine their relations in the coming months.

The EU is striving to avoid a tariff war and hopes to maintain communication with Trump on security matters, including the issue of Ukraine. However, the EU has encountered setbacks in approving trade agreements. EU lawmakers twice suspended the approval process, once because Trump threatened to annex Greenland, and another time because a US court ruled that Trump's global tariffs were invalid.