The United States signed a framework trade agreement with the European Union at President Donald Trump’s luxury golf course in Turnberry, western Scotland, on Sunday, July 27. It imposes 15% import tariffs on most EU goods—half the 30% Trump had previously threatened, Reuters reported.
The agreement was announced after an hour-long meeting between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Trump.
The US and EU trade deal would be considered a victory for Trump, according to Reuters, who is seeking to restructure the global economy and reduce the decades-long US trade deficit and has already reached similar structural agreements with Britain, Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
The US will maintain a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum from almost all countries, except the UK (25%), which will remain in place until July 7. Meanwhile, the US has imposed a 200% tariff on Russian aluminum and related products.
Trump told reporters it was the biggest deal ever made, and he praised the EU’s plans to invest nearly $600 billion in the United States and dramatically increase purchases of US energy and military equipment.
Trump said the deal, which comes on top of an agreement signed with Japan last week, would expand ties between the trans-Atlantic powers after years of unfair treatment of US exporters.
Von der Leyen described President Trump as a tough negotiator and said the 15% tariff would apply to goods everywhere, later telling reporters that it was “the best we could get.”
“We have a trade deal between the two largest economies in the world, and it’s a big deal. It’s a huge deal. It will bring stability. It will bring predictability,” he said.
Trump told reporters that the deal would allow for $750 billion in US energy purchases (such as LNG, natural gas, oil, and nuclear fuel) from the EU in the coming years and “hundreds of billions of dollars” in arms purchases.
According to Reuters, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz praised the agreement, saying it avoided a trade conflict that would have hit Germany’s export-driven economy and its large auto sector.
However, Reuters reported that many in Europe would still consider the 15% tariff principle too high, as Europe’s initial idea was to secure a zero-for-zero tariff deal.
The President of the European Commission said there would be no tariffs from either side on aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some agricultural products, natural resources, and critical raw materials.
Trump could increase tariffs on European countries in the future if they fail to deliver on investment promises, a senior US administration official told reporters on Sunday evening.
Reuters’s reporting contributed to this article.