EU lawmakers and member states reached a deal in the early hours of Wednesday to implement the bloc's nearly year-old trade pact with the United States, with President Donald Trump threatening new tariffs unless it is done by July 4.The 27-nation bloc struck an accord with Washington last July setting levies on a majority of European goods at 15 percent, but to Trump's frustration it had yet to make good on its pledge to scrap levies on most US imports in return.
Negotiators from the EU's parliament and capitals wrangled late into the night, finally emerging several hours after midnight with news of a hard-fought agreement to move forward.
"Today, the European Union delivers on its commitments," Cyprus's energy, commerce and industry minister Michael Damianos, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said in a statement announcing the deal.
"Maintaining a stable, predictable and balanced transatlantic partnership is in the interest of both sides," he said.
The EU agreement puts the bloc on track to meet Trump's deadline for ratification of the deal sealed in Turnberry, Scotland between Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, and hopefully turn the page on more than a year of transatlantic trade battles.
