The European Union approved Wednesday a tariff deal with the United States to cap tariffs on most EU exports at 15%, avoiding a direct clash with President Donald Trump ahead of his July 4 deadline.

Fierce debates raged among the 27-nation bloc's lawmakers and leaders, jeopardizing the hard-won bargain governing the massive exchange of goods and services across the Atlantic Ocean between two of the world's largest economies, now weathering dangerous fallout from the war in Iran.