US implements EU trade deal, 15% autos tariffs retroactive to Aug 1

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's administration said on Wednesday it was formally implementing the U.S. trade agreement with the European Union, confirming that a 15% duty rate for EU autos and auto parts began on August 1 and listing tariff exemptions for generic pharmaceuticals, aircraft and aircraft parts.

In a Federal Register notice, the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative's office said they have amended the tariff schedule to implement the framework agreement reached with the EU in July that lowers the Republican president's tariffs to 15% on most imports from the EU, including autos. 

The deal was subsequently modified to make the duty rate retroactive to August 1, but European automakers have been waiting for weeks for the formal U.S. notice.

The U.S. notice also specifies hundreds of products from the EU that are exempt from Trump's new tariffs, including natural resources such as cork lacking in the United States, all aircraft and aircraft parts, and generic pharmaceuticals and their ingredients and chemical precursors.

The notice is in line with a previous Trump executive order that offered certain exemptions from his "reciprocal" tariffs and so-called Section 232 national security duties to countries that negotiate trade deals with the United States.

Among items that would be exempted for EU exporters are graphite, nickel, rare earths, magnesium and certain other metals, as well as hundreds of electronic and mechanical components that are used in aircraft production.

For EU autos and auto parts, the tariff rate dropped to 15% from 25% effective August 1, easing anxiety in an industry that had been waiting for the long-delayed confirmation in order to make sourcing decisions.

Shares in German automakers rose following the confirmation, reflecting relief over the formal implementation of a move announced almost two months ago.

Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, had said last week that the actual lowering of U.S. auto import tariffs from August was still subject to talks between the United States and EU, and could take several weeks.

Shares in luxury sportscar maker Porsche , which has no production sites outside Europe, were up about 2.2%, while BMW and Mercedes-Benz rose 1.4% and 1.1%, respectively.

(Reporting by David Lawder, additional reporting by Christoph Steitz and David ShepardsonEditing by Marguerita Choy and Will Dunham)