Brussels, 25 August 2025 | EFFAT voices deep concerns about the EU-US Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade. The recently released joint declaration statement validates the concerns we expressed in July, on the occasion of the talks between US President Trump and Commission President von der Leyen: European agro-food wealth is at stake alongside its millions of workers.
EU agricultural products will be subject to either the US Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rate or a 15% tariff — the latter expected to apply to the vast majority of agricultural goods — with no exceptions included, despite earlier proposals reportedly discussed following the Trump–von der Leyen meeting in Scotland. Simultaneously, the EU will provide preferential access to American agricultural and seafood imports while completely removing duties on all US manufactured goods.
For the European agriculture sector and its workers, this arrangement poses a serious challenge, putting significant trade volumes and thousands of jobs in the EFFAT sectors at potential risk.
EFFAT sounds the alarm over recent references to the European Union and the United States’ commitment to “work together to address non-tariff barriers affecting trade in food and agricultural products, including streamlining requirements for sanitary certificates for pork and dairy products.” These declarations risk undermining the European model for food standards, a comprehensive regulatory framework developed over decades to ensure high levels of food quality, hygiene, safety, and consumer protection.
Enrico Somaglia, EFFAT General Secretary is clear: “This deal is fundamentally unbalanced. It overwhelmingly benefits one side, granting zero tariffs and billions of euros in investments and fossil fuel acquisitions. This is not reciprocity — it is a sweeping concession that places the entire agro-food sector in a state of deep uncertainty. References to non-tariff barriers and potential weakening of Due Diligence Directives are deeply concerning. Any accommodation for increased American imports into the EU must not come at the expense of food safety, labour standards, or environmental sustainability.“
EFFAT calls on the European Commission to:
• Resume discussions with the United States to achieve mutual tariff reductions on key agricultural exports.
• Immediately release a detailed impact assessment on this agreement’s effects on the EU agro-food sector, especially on employment.
• Ensure that no concessions are made at the expense of the EU social, environmental, health and consumer protection standards.
This political agreement reinforces a concerning pattern: agricultural sectors and their workers are being consistently side-lined in EU trade policy.
Finally EFFAT calls upon Commission President von der Leyen to initiate immediate consultations with trade unions to clarify how this outcome aligns with EU’s sovereignty and sustainability objectives, and to outline specific measures for safeguarding agri-food sector jobs.
