The European Union has formally locked in zero customs duties on virtually all industrial goods originating in the United States, following the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2026/1455 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2026 on the adjustment of customs duties on imports of certain goods originating in the United States of America.

The move marks the legislative endpoint of a year-long political process that began when Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump struck a tariff deal in Turnberry, Scotland on 27 July 2025, formalised on 21 August 2025 in the EU–US Joint Statement on a Framework on Reciprocal, Fair and Balanced Trade.

Under that framework, the US agreed to cap tariffs on EU goods at an all-inclusive 15% ceiling, while the EU committed to eliminating duties on US industrial goods in return.

What changes at the border

Under Article 1 of the regulation, US-origin goods listed in Annex I enter the EU at 0% customs duty.

The zero rate sweeps broadly across industrial categories — chemicals (CN Chapters 28–40), plastics, rubber, pharmaceuticals and mineral fuels — with narrow carve-outs for mannitol, sorbitol and certain textile-finishing agents.

For some agricultural products, the regulation opens tariff rate quotas granting duty-free access limited volumes of agricultural products.

Impact to the online trade

According to the new legislation most of the goods traded via online shops which originate in the USA will not be subject to standard duties, which sounds as a good news.

Unfortunately practical application will be very much different:

  • The new rules do not apply to goods delivered in shipments of intrinsic value below 150 EUR - these shipments are subject to the special 3 EUR duty;
  • For parcels worth over 150 EUR the new rules are technically applicable, but most of the couriers do not support and will not intend to support preferential treatment of US goods, meaning that they will disregard the new rules and still apply standard tariffs.

For ecommerce sellers, the practical benefit of the new tariff rules will therefore depend heavily on whether their logistics and customs solution is able to correctly recognise and apply the preferential country-of-origin treatment.

EAS EU DDP solution will honor the preferential treatment of US goods

EAS released a new solution for postal deliveries of parcels over 150 EUR.

The new EAS solution is released for UK sellers but soon will be available to Australian and US merchants.

Goods sent via the solution will be handled in accordance with reference to their country of origin, thus making US, UK, Swiss and Australian goods duty free for EU customers.

Check your potential savings

You can check EAS savings calculator to assess possible savings available to your customers due to effective use of the free trade agreements signed between EU and other countries.

Open the EAS Savings Calculator