EU tariffs on Russian fertiliser imports that aim to cut funding for Moscow's war in Ukraine have so far hit European farmers, raising costs and risking higher consumer prices while Russian companies say they can divert exports to other markets, Reuters reported. "We're shooting ourselves in the foot," farmer Cedric Benoist, deputy secretary general of French wheat farmers union AGPB and head of the cereals committee of EU farmer association Copa Cogeca, told Reuters, saying farmers are now faced with paying higher global prices.

The European Union is pushing to exempt its wine and spirit exports to the U.S. from tariffs, an EU official said, as both sides work toward fine-tuning a deal, the Wall Street Journal reported. Wines, spirits and beer are all important products for the EU, the official said on Tuesday. French politicians have called for alcoholic beverages to be exempt from a baseline 15% tariff that will hit a majority of goods from the EU later this week as part of the trade deal.

The European Union will suspend its two packages of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs for six months following a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, a Commission spokesperson said on Monday, Reuters reported. The EU-U.S. agreement leaves many questions open, including tariff rates on spirits, and Trump's executive order last week setting tariffs on most EU goods at 15% did not include carve-outs such as for cars and car parts. EU officials have said they expect more executive orders to follow soon. "The EU continues to work with the U.S.

The U.S. struck a framework trade agreement with the European Union yesterday, Reuters reported. The deal, which comes after months of negotiations, imposes a 15% import tariff on most EU goods, which is half the rate U.S. President Donald Trump previously threatened. Trump said the deal calls for $750 billion of EU purchases of U.S. energy in coming years and "hundreds of billions of dollars" of arms purchases. A senior U.S.

The member states on Thursday approved the list of retaliatory tariffs proposed by the European Commission to counter US trade measures, with only Hungary voting against, EuroNews reported. The list includes an initial package of measures adopted in early April and targets products including aircraft, cars and car parts, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel and aluminium, yachts. Bourbon whiskey was also included in the list despite intense lobbying by France and Ireland which fear US retaliation on wine and spirits.

The European Commission plans to submit counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. goods for approval to EU members, while its trade chief will hold talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Reuters reported. The Commission said on Wednesday that its primary focus was to achieve a negotiated outcome with the United States to avert 30% U.S. tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will impose on the 27-nation bloc on August 1.

The European Union is exploring a broader set of possible counter-measures against the United States as prospects for an acceptable trade agreement with Washington fade, according to EU diplomats, Reuters reported. An increasing number of EU members, including Germany, are now considering using wide-ranging "anti-coercion" measures which would let the bloc target U.S. services and other sectors in the absence of a deal, diplomats say.

The European Union agreed to impose its toughest sanctions on Russia since its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, blocking attempts to revive the Nord Stream gas pipelines, lowering a price cap for Russian oil sales and hitting banks from third countries in a move that could exacerbate tensions with China, the Wall Street Journal reported. The sanctions package comes as President Trump has started increasing pressure on the Kremlin after months of seeking a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. The White House now appears closer to the European view that the Kremlin won’t end the war.

The European Union began proceedings against Spain over its intervention in banking mergers after the government blocked the legal combination of BBVA BBVA 0.59%increase; green up pointing triangle and Sabadell SAB 0.24%increase; green up pointing triangle for at least three years, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Europe’s exports to the U.S. fell for the second consecutive month in May after a first-quarter boom, but remained higher than a year earlier, a sign of resilience that will be tested as higher tariffs look set to become a settled feature of trans-Atlantic trade, the Wall Street Journal reported. Exports to the U.S. from the European Union edged down to 46.2 billion euros, or around $53.6 billion, in May from 47.7 billion euros a month earlier, statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday. Overall exports fell 0.8%, with the EU’s overall trade surplus rising to 13.4 billion euros.