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U.S.-EU Trade Framework: Outcome and Next Steps

By Arun Venkataraman, Atli Stannard, Kate McNulty, Bart Szewczyk & Matthieu Coget on August 6, 2025
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On July 27, the United States and the European Union announced a trade framework agreement, following a meeting between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The deal avoided imposition of a 30% reciprocal U.S. tariff on EU goods that was set to take effect August 1, and a potential EU countermeasure targeting up to €93 billion in U.S. exports, scheduled for August 7 (i.e., Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1564).

Although the July 27 agreement defused an immediate tariff spiral, the absence of a binding legal text leaves room for conflicting readings, further negotiations, and opportunities for stakeholder engagement with U.S. and EU officials, as the details of the agreement are finalized. This alert outlines the key elements of the recently announced trade deal, as well as remaining uncertainties regarding its implementation and for the overall U.S.-EU trade relationship.

Click here to read the full alert on cov.com.

Photo of Arun Venkataraman Arun Venkataraman

Arun Venkataraman leverages 20 plus years of government and private sector experience to provide legal, policy, and strategic advice to clients on a range of international trade matters.

Arun joined the firm after serving in senior roles at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Arun Venkataraman leverages 20 plus years of government and private sector experience to provide legal, policy, and strategic advice to clients on a range of international trade matters.

Arun joined the firm after serving in senior roles at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Most recently, he served as the Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service at the International Trade Administration (ITA) from 2022-2025. Arun led the federal government’s efforts to expand commercial opportunities for U.S. firms overseas and foreign firms in the United States, including by facilitating deals between U.S. and foreign companies, improving commercial policy environments, resolving barriers to trade and investment, and negotiating governmental agreements to promote commercial partnerships. He also served as Counselor to the Secretary of Commerce, advising the Secretary on all aspects of foreign economic policy within the Department. In this role, Arun led negotiations with foreign governments on technology policy, as well as Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs.

Before joining the Biden Administration, Arun was Senior Director, Global Government Engagement, at Visa. He developed and executed engagement strategy, in advocacy before the U.S. and foreign governments, as well as with trade associations, international organizations, and other stakeholder groups on a range of international policy issues including digital economy, trade, tax, and sanctions.

During the Obama Administration, Arun served as ITA’s first-ever Director of Policy, where he led efforts across the Commerce Department to remove global trade and investment barriers and strengthen the global competitiveness of U.S. industry, including in such markets as China and India. This included leading Department efforts to support Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation, and secure improvements in China’s competition law and semiconductor policies.

Arun also served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) as the Director for India, where he led the development and implementation of U.S.-India trade policy, for which he received the agency’s Kelly Award for outstanding performance and extraordinary leadership. He also served as USTR’s Associate General Counsel, representing the United States in litigation before the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in bilateral and multilateral negotiations on international trade agreements.

Prior to USTR, Arun was a Legal Officer in the Appellate Body Secretariat at the WTO, where he advised on appeals in litigation between countries under WTO rules. He also served as a Law Clerk for Judge Jane A. Restani at the U.S. Court of International Trade.

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Photo of Atli Stannard Atli Stannard

Atli Stannard advises clients on EU trade law and policy, technology regulation, and the governance of strategically significant industrial sectors, with a particular focus on the geoeconomic forces shaping European regulation, industrial policy, and the transatlantic relationship. Clients describe him as providing “exceptional…

Atli Stannard advises clients on EU trade law and policy, technology regulation, and the governance of strategically significant industrial sectors, with a particular focus on the geoeconomic forces shaping European regulation, industrial policy, and the transatlantic relationship. Clients describe him as providing “exceptional levels of insight.”

Atli guides clients in highly regulated industries through complex EU policymaking processes, protecting and advancing their core business and regulatory priorities. He is a member of the firm’s Public Policy, International Trade, Sustainability, and Business & Human Rights practices.

Atli’s trade practice covers the full suite of EU trade instruments, including the EU Anti‑Coercion Instrument, trade defence investigations, customs classification and market‑access issues, investment-related tools (FDI and the foreign subsidies regulation), and environmental-related trade tools such as CBAM. He frequently advises on regulatory issues at the intersection of trade and technology—covering platform, data, AI, and competition policy—where digital and geoeconomic considerations converge.

His work also encompasses the EU frameworks governing medical technologies and other strategically important industrial sectors—such as automotive, and food and beverage—and includes supporting clients on environmental and EU ESG policymaking. Across these domains, he helps clients identify regulatory risks early, anticipate institutional dynamics, and build clear, actionable strategies—working closely with them to engage effectively with the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the EU, and Member State and UK governments.

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Photo of Kate McNulty Kate McNulty

Kate McNulty advises U.S. and international clients on a range of complex international trade issues, dynamic U.S. and global tariff matters, and related trade compliance questions, including tariff stacking. She provides legal, policy, and strategic advice to companies, trade associations, and governments on…

Kate McNulty advises U.S. and international clients on a range of complex international trade issues, dynamic U.S. and global tariff matters, and related trade compliance questions, including tariff stacking. She provides legal, policy, and strategic advice to companies, trade associations, and governments on international economic policy matters, and assists clients in navigating geopolitical risk. She advises clients on the negotiation and enforcement of international trade agreements, including enforcement proceedings arising under the facility-specific rapid response labor mechanism of the USMCA.

Kate regularly represents clients before U.S. agencies such as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Commerce, including in proceedings arising under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. She also litigates before the U.S. Court of International Trade and represents clients in antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) proceedings.

Prior to joining Covington, Kate held various positions in the U.S. government. Most recently, Kate served in the Office of Multilateral Trade Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 2009 to 2018, where she managed trade enforcement matters for the Department—including U.S. government actions under Section 301 and Section 232—and also participated in the negotiation of international trade agreements on behalf of the U.S. government.

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Photo of Bart Szewczyk Bart Szewczyk

Having served in senior advisory positions in the U.S. government, Bart Szewczyk advises on European and global public policy, particularly on technology, economic sanctions and asset seizure, trade and foreign investment, business and human rights, and environmental, social, and governance issues, as well…

Having served in senior advisory positions in the U.S. government, Bart Szewczyk advises on European and global public policy, particularly on technology, economic sanctions and asset seizure, trade and foreign investment, business and human rights, and environmental, social, and governance issues, as well as conducts international arbitration. He also teaches grand strategy as an Adjunct Professor at Sciences Po in Paris and is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund.

Bart recently worked as Advisor on Global Affairs at the European Commission’s think-tank, where he covered a wide range of foreign policy issues, including international order, defense, geoeconomics, transatlantic relations, Russia and Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and China and Asia. Previously, between 2014 and 2017, he served as Member of Secretary John Kerry’s Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he covered Europe, Eurasia, and global economic affairs. From 2016 to 2017, he also concurrently served as Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, where he worked on refugee policy. He joined the U.S. government from teaching at Columbia Law School, as one of two academics selected nationwide for the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship. He has also consulted for the World Bank and Rasmussen Global.

Prior to government, Bart was an Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School, where he worked on international law and U.S. foreign relations law. Before academia, he taught international law and international organizations at George Washington University Law School, and served as a visiting fellow at the EU Institute for Security Studies. He also clerked at the International Court of Justice for Judges Peter Tomka and Christopher Greenwood and at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for the late Judge Leonard Garth.

Bart holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge University where he studied as a Gates Scholar, a J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.P.A. from Princeton University, and a B.S. in economics (summa cum laude) from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Harvard International Law Journal, Columbia Journal of European Law, American Journal of International Law, George Washington Law Review, Survival, and elsewhere. He is the author of three books: Europe’s Grand Strategy: Navigating a New World Order (Palgrave Macmillan 2021); with David McKean, Partners of First Resort: America, Europe, and the Future of the West (Brookings Institution Press 2021); and European Sovereignty, Legitimacy, and Power (Routledge 2021).

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Photo of Matthieu Coget Matthieu Coget

Matthieu Coget’s practice sits at the intersection of law and policy. He advises primarily on the EU’s evolving regulatory response to geopolitical and trade tensions, including foreign investment screening, sanctions and export controls, and trade safeguards. Matthieu also advises on reputational risks arising…

Matthieu Coget’s practice sits at the intersection of law and policy. He advises primarily on the EU’s evolving regulatory response to geopolitical and trade tensions, including foreign investment screening, sanctions and export controls, and trade safeguards. Matthieu also advises on reputational risks arising from cross-border transactions involving strategic supply chains. In addition, he regularly supports clients in designing and implementing policy engagement strategies.

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  • Posted in:
    Business and Commercial
  • Blog:
    Global Policy Watch
  • Organization:
    Covington & Burling LLP
  • Article: View Original Source

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