Hungary Seeks Mutually Beneficial Customs Agreement With the United States

L-R: Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán

It is in Hungary’s fundamental interest to conclude a mutually beneficial customs agreement with the United States, said the Deputy State Secretary responsible for the agricultural market at the Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday at the Portfolio Agrofood 2025 conference in Kecskemét (central-southern Hungary).

In his presentation on the agricultural implications of the global trade war, Tamás Tarpataki said that the U.S. president’s 2024 campaign promised radical changes in U.S. policy, many of which have since been implemented or are in the process of being implemented. These include the economic and tax policy, as well as universal import tariffs aimed at addressing the foreign trade deficit.

He recalled that in connection with the latter, Donald Trump announced in April that he planned to impose a 20 percent retaliatory tariff on the European Union on agricultural and food products, among other things, and then decided to suspend it for 90 days.

In response, the EU adopted a package of measures covering imports worth EUR 21 billion, which Hungary did not support and which also affects Hungarian imports worth around EUR 180 million. Brussels also suspended the entry into force of these measures until July 14.

According to the deputy state secretary, Europe is trying to find a solution to this situation through negotiations, while also preparing countermeasures “in the spirit of caution,” but “there are no actual countermeasures on the table, this is still in the works.”

“If the U.S. tariffs come into effect, this will also have a significant impact on the domestic agricultural economy: Hungarian exporters will face revenue losses, competitive disadvantages and even market restructuring”, Tamás Tarpataki emphasized.

In general, the tariff war will increase costs and inflation, reduce profitability and consumer purchasing power, and have a negative impact on demand and consumer confidence. In addition, it will increase geopolitical risk and disrupt supply chains,”

he said.

He pointed out that “the U.S. president does not want to punish anyone, he is simply trying to take measures to stabilize the U.S. economy”.

However, it is a fact that Donald Trump “has thrown a stone into the pond, and it is causing waves that have not been seen since World War II,” he said, indicating that the exact consequences cannot yet be predicted.

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