US close to 15% tariff deal on EU exports, Brussels believes as it keeps up threats

The EU and the US are nearing a trade deal that would place 15% tariffs on most imports from the bloc, it has emerged.

- Lisa O'Carroll Jennifer Rankin

The tariff rate, which would mirror a deal struck this week between the US and Japan, would apply to most goods, with some exceptions for products including aircraft and medical devices, according to diplomats with knowledge of the talks.

Member states were briefing on the latest developments by the European Commission yesterday afternoon.

To extract a better deal, the EU has also offered to reduce its so-called "most favoured nation rate" - currently at an average of 4.8% - to zero for some products as part of an agreement in principle, a diplomat said.

The final decision remains in the hands of the US president, Donald Trump, but if agreed it would mean the EU gets a worse deal than Britain, which has agreed a 10% baseline tariff.

It would also be a hard pill to swallow for the German car industry, whose tariffs would be reduced from 27.5% but would still be more than five times the 2.75% import duty they faced on exports to the US before Trump returned to the White House.