The EU will remove tariffs on imports of live lobsters and frozen lobster products from the United States under an agreement that calls for lower U.S. tariffs on a variety of European goods, including prepared meals. “These tariff reductions are the first U.S.-EU negotiated reductions in duties in more than two decades,” said a joint statement by EU and U.S. trade officials.
Under the agreement, the EU will eliminate tariffs on U.S. live and frozen lobster products, worth $111 million in 2017. “The EU will eliminate these tariffs on a Most Favored Nation basis, retroactive to Aug. 1, said the officials. The United States will reduce its tariff rates by 50 percent on EU products that include prepared meals, crystal glassware, cigarette lighters and propellant powders, retroactive to Aug. 1.
U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan said the agreement on lobsters grew out of ongoing negotiations for a transatlantic trade agreement.