Following a quick meeting between President Donald Trump and European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen, the United States and the European Union secured a tariff agreement on Sunday. The United States’ top trading partner in the world, the 27-member European Union, was just days away from a White House deadline to impose punitive import levies.
The negotiation was fascinating. Trump stated, “I think it’s going to be great for both parties.”
The goal of the make-or-break negotiations was to prevent trade sanctions and to guarantee European response, which might have rocked economies all around the world.
After having private discussions at one of Trump’s golf estates in Scotland, von der Leyen and Trump announced shortly afterward that they had come to a comprehensive agreement.
Trump promised to alter what he saw as a highly unfair and one-sided deal for the United States in his speech prior to the meeting.
“We’ve had a hard time with trade with Europe, a very hard time,” he added, adding, “I think the main sticking point is fairness.”
In case you missed it, Trump has announced new trade agreements with the Philippines and Indonesia.
According to von der Leyen, the United States and the European Union together account for hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars in global trade. Trump stated that we should try to make a deal since the stakes were high.
According to von der Leyen, Trump’s reputation as a strong negotiator and dealmaker led the president to intercede with fairness.”I think it would be the biggest deal each of us has ever struck if they are successful,” she remarked.
In an effort to reduce significant trade imbalances with numerous important trading partners, Trump has been threatening to impose high tariffs on the majority of the world for months. More recently, he had implied that any agreement with the EU would need to lower the 30% tariff rate that is currently planned.
The Republican president said that the EU may agree to something similar, citing a recent U.S.-Japan accord that established 15% tariff rates for a variety of goods.
Trump responded negatively when asked if he would be open to accepting tariff rates below that threshold. Regarding the possibility of European reprisals, he stated: They will take whatever necessary action.
They met after Trump played golf at his Turnberry club for the second day in a row, this time with his sons Donald Jr. and Eric. During his five-day stay in Scotland, the president will play golf and promote properties that bear his name.
At the course, a few protesters held up American flags and held up a sign denouncing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is scheduled to meet with Trump at Turnberry on Monday. Trump! Trump! was being chanted and cheered by other voices as he performed close by.
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Trump will visit Aberdeen, in northeastern Scotland, on Tuesday. There, his family owns another golf club, and next month they plan to add a third. The new course’s ribbon-cutting will be assisted by the president and his sons.
Tomas Baert, head of trade and agriculture at the EU delegation to the United States; Sabine Weyand, directorate-general for trade at the commission; Bj rn Seibert, head of von der Leyen’s Cabinet; and Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s main trade negotiator, joined von der Leyen.
Although it has changed in recent weeks, the Trump administration emphasized that the timeline for starting to impose tariffs is already set in stone.
No further grace periods or extensions. According to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, “the tariffs are set, they’ll go into place, Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go,” he said on Sunday on Fox News. But even after that, he said, people can still speak with President Trump. He’s always willing to listen, after all.
In the absence of an agreement, the EU stated that it was ready to impose tariffs in retaliation on hundreds of American goods, including beer, Boeing aircraft, meat, and auto parts.
Everything from German technology and Spanish medications to French cheese and Italian leather goods might become more costly in the US if Trump ultimately follows through on his threat of imposing tariffs on Europe.
Meanwhile, during the Group of Seven conference in Canada last month, the United States and Britain revealed a wider deal, after the announcement of a trade framework in May. Although the White House has said that still requires some refinement, Trump claims the deal is final and that he and Starmer will talk about other issues.
