EU plans to reduce import quotas from Ukraine

The European Union plans to increase duties on imports of Ukrainian products.

This is reported by Latifundist with reference to the FT.

Special trade privileges that allowed most Ukrainian products to be shipped to the EU duty-free will be terminated. Thus, the European Union plans to reduce quotas for Ukrainian imports from June 6, 2025.

The decision was made under pressure from EU member states, in particular Poland and France, where farmers complained about falling prices due to Ukrainian imports.

From June 6, the EU plans “transitional measures” while the Union and Ukraine update the general trade agreement. However, according to diplomats, the transitional position sent to EU member states will significantly reduce duty-free quotas for agricultural products.

“This is a very bad signal for Ukraine. It will take time until at least October to find a solution,” commented Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee.

The Ukrainian government estimates that a return to pre-war trading conditions would reduce its revenues by around €3.5 billion a year.

Two EU diplomats told the FT that the European Commission’s transitional measure would split the annual duty-free quota into 12 monthly ones to reduce imports while negotiations continue. The biggest impact would be on corn, sugar, honey and poultry.

In particular, the corn quota would be reduced from 4.7 million tonnes to 650,000 tonnes a year.

USM previously reported that visa-free travel between Ukraine and the EU had been extended until the end of the year.