WASHINGTON and BRUSSELS (Aug. 4, 2025) – Cefic and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) joined together to issue the following statement from ACC’s President and CEO Chris Jahn and Cefic’s Director General Marco Mensink.
“ACC and Cefic take note of the announcement of the understanding reached by U.S. President Trump and European Commission President von der Leyen on July 27th, 2025. We are encouraged that this understanding avoids measures that could have significantly affected the deeply integrated transatlantic trade and investment relationships in the chemicals sector. The chemicals industry fuels the competitiveness of almost all manufacturing value chains including automotive goods, defense, agriculture, and consumer products we all use every day. The European Union’s (EU) and United States’ (U.S.) chemical industry have strong and longstanding ties in terms of investment, complementary production chains, research and development, and trade flows. Most EU-U.S. chemicals trade is made up of intracompany and intercompany transfers that sustain jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. We will provide more detailed comments about the understanding when further details are confirmed by both sides.
We are hopeful that this understanding is a step towards further discussions to strengthen our economic and trade relationship, and we encourage both sides to work with our industry to incorporate a binding sectoral agreement on chemical products as a major deliverable of these discussions. Such an agreement would benefit both sides by increasing bilateral market access for our respective exports and ensuring a level playing field. The U.S. and the EU are both original signatories to the Chemical Tariff Harmonization Agreement (CTHA) which is a strong foundation to address and reduce tariff disparities on chemicals between our two jurisdictions. Tariffs above CTHA rates risk disrupting our closely integrated transatlantic industry. The agreement should also enhance regulatory cooperation and simplification and support new value chains including mechanical and advanced/chemical recycling, waste management, biomaterials, and carbon capture and utilization solutions.
A deeper bilateral commitment for our sector would help secure domestic and resilient manufacturing of chemicals necessary to support innovation and further downstream manufacturing, stimulate research and development, and incentivize tariff agreements with other trading partner countries.”
American Chemistry Council
The American Chemistry Council’s mission is to advocate for the people, policy, and products of chemistry that make the United States the global leader in innovation and manufacturing. To achieve this, we: Champion science-based policy solutions across all levels of government; Drive continuous performance improvement to protect employees and communities through Responsible Care®; Foster the development of sustainability practices throughout ACC member companies; and Communicate authentically with communities about challenges and solutions for a safer, healthier and more sustainable way of life. Our vision is a world made better by chemistry, where people live happier, healthier, and more prosperous lives, safely and sustainably—for generations to come.
The European Chemical Industry Council – Cefic
Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, is the forum of large, medium and small chemical companies across Europe, accounting for 1.2 million jobs and 13% of world chemicals production. On behalf of its members, Cefic’s experts share industry insights and trends, and offer views and input to the EU agenda. Cefic also provides members with services, like guidance and training on regulatory and technical matters, while also contributing to the advancement of scientific knowledge.