Trade
The EU is the world’s biggest exporter of manufactured goods and services and the largest import market for over 100 countries. The EU already has the world’s largest network of trade agreements – 74 countries – and has always been the most enthusiastic champion of the rules-based multilateral trading system. That system is under sustained and serious pressure. Trade is now one of the largest and most active Brussels advocacy areas, driven directly by Trump’s tariff agenda.
The EU-US trade relationship is in a period of managed tension. Amid mounting legal and political challenges in the US to tariffs imposed under presidential emergency authority, the administration introduced a 10% global tariff as a replacement mechanism. An EU-US framework agreement has reduced some of the most damaging impacts, but the European Parliament postponed ratification in February 2026 amid uncertainty, and the effective trade-weighted tariff rate on EU exports remains around 12.5%, while the euro has appreciated approximately 13% against the dollar year-on-year – adding further competitive pressure to EU exporters.
EU-Mercosur has finally been concluded, with provisional application from 1 May 2026 – representing the world’s largest free trade deal by population at 700 million people. Five member states voted against it. The European Parliament faces a legal challenge through the ECJ that could delay full ratification by two years. For agriculture, the deal has immediately become contentious: the EU voted in May 2026 to suspend Brazilian meat imports from September 2026 over antimicrobial concerns, demonstrating that standards enforcement will be active.
China trade dynamics remain deeply complex. The EU’s ‘de-risking’ strategy – reducing critical dependencies without full decoupling – is producing a sustained flow of trade defence measures: tariffs on Chinese EVs, investigation of Chinese subsidies in solar, wind, and rail equipment, and the evolving Foreign Subsidies Regulation affecting Chinese company activity in EU procurement. Simultaneously, China is conducting an active diplomatic campaign to strengthen EU ties, having lifted sanctions on certain MEPs and proposing high-level meetings. Navigating EU-China trade is now one of the most sophisticated and politically sensitive Brussels advisory practices.