EU lawmakers approve US trade deal to avert tariff conflict

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS, June 16 (Reuters) - The European Parliament approved on Tuesday cutting duties on many U.S. goods imports to fulfill the European Union's side of a trade deal struck last year, and avert a new round of tariff conflict between the world's largest trading partners.

U.S. President Donald Trump struck a framework deal with the European Union at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland last July under which the EU agreed to remove import duties on U.S. industrial goods in return for U.S. tariffs of 15% on most EU goods.

Almost 11 months later, the EU has yet to implement the import duty cuts, prompting Trump to threaten "much higher" tariffs unless the EU took action by July 4.

The EU should meet that deadline after the EU assembly cleared the last significant legislative hurdle. It also extended duty-free imports of U.S. lobsters, a mini-deal struck with Trump in his first term as president.

"A deal is a deal - and the EU is delivering its part," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media.

Erik Severinson, chief commercial officer of Volvo Cars, which has car plants in Europe and the United States, said the greater predictability would help production planning, supply chain management and more effective investment.

Industry groups from Germany, the EU's largest exporter to the United States, broadly welcomed the vote even though U.S. tariffs were a significant challenge. They added the onus was on the United States to implement the Turnberry deal in full.

WILL THE US DELIVER?

Although Tuesday's vote should avert Trump's July 4 tariff, it leaves many uncertainties. Only on Monday, Trump said he would impose 100% tariffs on French wine unless Paris eliminated its digital sales tax.

The United States meanwhile needs to put in place broad 15% tariffs on EU goods after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump's previous global tariffs. The Trump administration plans to replicate the Turnberry deal tariffs by July 24.

The EU legislation passed by the European Parliament expires at the end of 2029 and includes multiple safeguards that would allow the EU to suspend concessions if the United States breached the Turnberry terms.

"This will not be the last debate on transatlantic trade, but we have laid the foundation for stability while Trump continues to create chaos," said EU lawmaker Karin Karlsbro, a Swedish liberal who has closely followed the file.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; additional reporting by Marie Mannes in Stockholm, Christian Kraemer, Madeline Chambers, Rachel More in Berlin; editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Barbara Lewis)