Overview

• Under a July 27 provisional framework, the EU agreed to impose baseline 15 percent tariffs on many of its exports to the United States pending legal drafting and ratification.
• The agreement ties the concession to continued U.S. security support for Ukraine, reflecting the administration’s strategy of linking trade and defense policy.
• Observers say the deal bypasses WTO rules by using U.S. market access as a coercive bargaining tool.
• Japan and Vietnam have secured comparable tariff agreements with Washington ahead of an Aug. 1 round of U.S. levies.
• EU leaders are considering activating their Anti-Coercion Instrument, boosting defense spending, pursuing independent trade pacts to lessen U.S. leverage.