(WASHINGTON D.C.) — The U.S. and the European Union announced that they’ve agreed on a Framework of an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade. Among the key terms, the EU intends to eliminate tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and provide preferential market access for a wide range of U.S. seafood and agricultural goods, including dairy products, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, soybean oil, pork, and other products.
The U.S. commits to applying the higher of either the U.S. Most Favored Nation Tariff Rate or a tariff rate of 15 percent, comprised of the MFN tariff and a reciprocal tariff, on originating goods from the European Union. Among some of the other commitments, the U.S. and EU share one of the world’s largest economic relationships. European companies commit to invest an additional $600 billion across strategic U.S. sectors through 2028. They’ll also work to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers.
National Pork Producers Council President Duane Stateler, a pork producer from McComb, Ohio, thanked the administration for including U.S. pork, saying “America’s pork producers are encouraged by the specific inclusion of pork in the U.S.-EU framework to address tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. We look forward to continued collaboration to address longstanding market access issues.”
U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom issued a statement, saying in part that “USMEF is encouraged to see that the European Union will provide preferential market access for pork and bison meat, has committed to streamlining requirements for U.S. pork sanitary certificates, and intends to address other non-tariff barriers affecting agricultural trade – including its deforestation regulation.”
U.S. dairy leaders stressed in a joint statement from National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council that America can no longer afford to tolerate Europe’s entrenched protectionism, which has cost U.S. dairy farmers billions and stifled real market access.
“U.S. farmers win when competition is fair, but there’s nothing fair about Europe’s system,” said Gregg Doud, president and CEO of NMPF. “An agreement with the EU has the potential to unlock billions in new opportunities for American dairy. To get there, dairy exporters need to see market access opportunities into the EU mirror those the EU already enjoys when it ships butter, cheese and other dairy products into the U.S. market. We look forward to working with the Administration to ensure the EU follows through on delivering results that farmers can see in their milk checks.”
View the full White House announcement here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/08/joint-statement-on-a-united-states-european-union-framework-on-an-agreement-on-reciprocal-fair-and-balanced-trade/
