ECVC calls on members of the European Parliament to reject the EU-US trade agreement
We defend our food sovereignty and citizens' right to healthy food by allowing farmers to feed the population instead of forcing them to compete with US industrial agriculture. The European Union must make a firm commitment to its strategic autonomy and to opposing US aggression, which is fuelling conflicts around the world at the expense of peoples’ right to self-determination. ECVC urges MEPs to vote against the trade agreement with the US and to stand with farmers and international law!
The European Parliament will vote again in plenary session, to be held on Tuesday 16 June, on the agreement signed by Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump in July 2025. The text formalises the removal of tariffs on a large number of US products, mainly agri-foodstuffs, whilst raising tariffs on all EU exports to 15%. Furthermore, it endorses the joint statement by the EU and the United States, which also provides for a framework for the deregulation of ‘non-tariff barriers’. This prompts the dismantling of (phyto-)sanitary and environmental standards that we are witnessing in the EU, such as the vote on new GMOs scheduled for the same week.
EU farmers who produce for the domestic market will be the first victims of this agreement and will have to contend with this unbalanced competition in the sectors of fruit production (grapes, citrus fruits, nuts, juices, ciders) and vegetables (potatoes, beans, peppers, onions, asparagus, etc.), dairy products (notably cheese), nuts, soya oil, pork, seeds, fertilisers, fish, and more. Furthermore, the safeguard mechanism designed to protect farmers from serious injury will not be triggered automatically. It will be triggered at the sole discretion of the European Commission. There is no automatic trigger threshold, and the deadlines for invoking the mechanism are not binding. By the time the investigation into the injury is completed, the damage to European producers will already have been done.
Despite a “sunset clause” in 2029, this unbalanced agreement will allow the United States to strengthen its industrial agriculture for at least three years, while any corrective mechanism would come too late to offset its negative effects on European farmers and food sovereignty. The agreement would not only weaken European market regulations and standards, but would also increase our dependence on the United States. This trade deal exacerbates the vulnerabilities that have put the EU at a disadvantage in the balance of power.
It is unrealistic to expect that a trade deal based on competition and free trade will create strong, sustainable alliances. We need international agreements that guarantee solidarity and cooperation while strengthening strategic autonomy in meeting basic needs. La Vía Campesina provides this framework in its proposal for international trade based on food sovereignty.
