European
automakers will save around 500-600 million euros ($585-700 million) a
month dating back to Aug. 1 after the Trump administration implemented
the U.S. end of its trade deal with the European Union, the EU’s top trade negotiator said Thursday.

Trade
Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said that the deal establishing a 15%
tariff on most EU goods took effect with publication in the U.S. Federal
Register instructing customs officials what to charge. That would
reduce the tariff from a painfully high 27.5% rate set earlier by Trump.

The
reduction eases a major burden on EU automakers and is a chief selling
point for the deal as presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The
deal is retroactive to Aug. 1 so “what we expect now is that the
tariffs will be returned to the automakers as of the first of August,
which is something like 500, 600 million euros per month,” Sefcovic said
ahead of a meeting with Southeast Asian trade ministers in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.

The
15% tariff is still much higher than tariffs from before Trump took
office, which averaged in the single digits, and the trade deal has been
criticized by business associations and some members of the European
Parliament.

Sefcovic said most member states supported the deal
and that after detailed exchanges and presentations on the details he
expected lawmakers would support it as well.

He said it was “the
best deal available” after difficult talks with Trump administration
officials. “Any other alternative would be much worse,” he said. Trump
threatened even higher rates during the talks.

—Associated Press