Name: EC Midday press briefing of 23/07/2026
Uploaded: 2026-07-23T10:43:00+00:00
Duration: 381 s

EC Midday press briefing of 23/07/2026

23 juillet 2026

Sommaire mis à jour le 23 juil. 2026

Agence Europe asks about the US investigation into pharmaceutical products in Germany, the announced 2028 tariffs on generic drugs and their impact on the Tenbury deal, and the withdrawal of additional tariffs on aluminium and steel derivatives; the Commission replies that under the EU–US joint statement and the April Section 232 proclamation the US has committed to exempt generic medicines (maintaining MFN treatment), expresses clear expectations that Washington will honour these commitments, and frames the joint statement as having stabilised transatlantic trade, enabling broader cooperation on digital issues and critical raw materials as EU–US trade flows grew in 2025.

European Commission jeu. 23 juil. 2026 Commission européenne

00:00 - 00:39

Intervenant 5

Thank you. Juliette Van Dess, Agence Europe. So I have a few questions on the US. First, on the investigation on pharmaceutical products in Germany, do you have any new information on the timeline and the end of this investigation from US counterparts? Then, on the additional tariffs on generic drugs, I know it's just an announcement right now and it has not materialized, but do you consider it as a threat to the implementation of the Tenbury deal?

And also, do you have any signs from the US that they will effectively withdraw the additional tariffs on aluminium and steel derivatives? Thanks.

00:39 - 03:10

Intervenant 4

Thanks for your questions, so I'll try to get through them all sequentially. So first, on the announcement by the US of a tariff on generic drugs starting in 2028, we've been very clear on the fact that under our EU-US joint statement, the United States committed to exempting generic medicines from the 15% tariffs. So that means that most favored nation, or MFN as we call it, treatment continues to apply. The US Section 232 proclamation from April confirmed this commitment and quite simply we expect the US to continue to uphold it. And I remind you that precisely because we have this joint statement in place, we have succeeded in preserving stability and predictability in transatlantic trade and investment, and in this case protecting a key strategic sector from disruption and from tariff increases.

So to address your other questions, as I mentioned earlier, we are in constant contact both at technical and political level with the US administration. We have clear political commitments from them that whatever the final tariff regime they put in place to, let's say, reconstruct their tariff wall, will honor their commitments under the EU-US joint statement. And with that joint statement in place, and with those first batches of commitments implemented, let's say, that has given us the space and the momentum to look at other areas of potential cooperation, which is why we have ramped up structured cooperation as we mentioned earlier in the digital space, when it comes to our work together on critical raw materials value chains, and across a range of other areas. So we're looking to the future of the EU-US trade and investment relationship with a positive frame based on the fact that we have succeeded in stabilizing transatlantic trade and investment to the point that in 2025 our exports to the US grew, as did theirs to us. So we can see that the work we invested to restore and maintain that predictability, that stability, has paid off, and now we're looking to the future with confidence and positivity.

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