Current situation:
On average, custom duties between the US & EU are roughly equal to 2% (so generally low) BUT the average hides widely different situations between goods.
- > 50% of goods are not subject to any custom duties
- Basic goods are on average taxed between 1 - 3%
- Some items are on the contrary prohibitively taxed (+30% for clothes & shoes, +130% on peanuts, +350% for raw tobacco, etc.)
The absurdity goes further - tariffs differ between the US & EU for the same goods:
- Cars: 10% for US imports in the EU vs 2.5% for EU imports in the US
- Train carriages: 14% duty on imports in the US vs 1.7% duty on imports in the EU