The long-awaited trade deal between the European Union and the U.S. was concluded yesterday. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Trump found an agreement when they met in Scotland. The general import tariff in the U.S. for the EU will be fixed at 15%.
According to von der Leyen, the 15% tariff will also include chips, cars, and pharmaceutical products. President Trump was less transparent about the latter. Earlier, he had still threatened a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals. von der Leyen stipulates that the deal is a ‘framework’ and that details have to be further negotiated.
She added that the U.S. would have “broader access” to the European market and that they’re still working on tariff-free products, without detailing what those will be. For aviation parts and specific chemical and agricultural products, zero tariffs have already been negotiated, she said.
Compensations
Apart from the augmented tariffs, steel and aluminum remain at a 50% rate, but with quota, Europe has also committed itself to further military purchases, investments in the U.S. reaching $600 billion, and the purchase of LNG (liquid natural gas) for $750 billion.
That’s a significant amount of money to compensate for the U.S.’s trade deficit with the EU in goods, which totaled $235 billion in 2024 (data from the U.S. Census Bureau). The fact that there’s an opposite trade deficit for the EU versus the U.S. in terms of services has not been readily calculated yet.
The 15% tariff was a proposal of the EU to suit the American President and is at the same level as the deal between the U.S. and Japan. An earlier EU proposal to have zero tariffs in both directions has been swept away.
As already mentioned, the deal between von der Leyen and Trump is a framework agreement that needs to be refined in the details and must also be approved by the 27 member states of the EU.
Mixed reactions
The initial reaction in Europe to the deal appears to be one of relief. Ultimately, there will be an end to the uncertainty, which is a significant relief for entrepreneurs and companies across Europe. At the same time, employer organizations point out that this is also “a bitter pill” and that there are still a lot of uncertainties about specific sectors like the pharmaceutical industry.
Kathleen Van Brempt, a Belgian (social-democrat) member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chairman of the International Trade Commission of the EU, regrets that Europe and other countries all over the world haven’t tried to unite against the aggressive trade war President Trump has ignited since he came to power. “They’ve let themselves be divided by Trump’s bullying.”
She also points out that deals with the current American President are always wobbly and uncertain. In any case, she says, Europe must expand its trade relations with all other countries in the world that still believe in honest and free trade globally.
