BBC North America REDISOR, in Turnberry, Scotland
The United States and the European Union have concluded a trade agreement, ending a confrontation of several months between two of the world’s largest economic partners.
After reference negotiations between President Donald Trump and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Scotland, the couple agreed from an American tariff on all EU property by 15%.
It is half the tax rate of imports of 30% that Trump had threatened to implement from Friday. He said that the 27 -member block would open up to American exporters with zero percent prices on certain products.
Von der Leyen also praised the agreement, claiming that this would bring stability to the two allies, who represent together nearly a third of world trade.
Trump has exerted prices against the main American trade partners in order to reorganize the world economy and reduce the American trade deficit.
In addition to the EU, he concluded tariff agreements with the United Kingdom, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, although he did not achieve his goal of “90 agreements in 90 days”.
The French Minister of European Affairs, Benjamin Haddad, reacted early Monday to the agreement, saying that he had merits – such as exemptions for certain French commercial sectors such as Spirits – but was unbalanced.
“The trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the United States will provide temporary stability to economic actors threatened by the escalation of American prices, but it is unbalanced,” wrote Haddad on X.
Sunday’s agreement was announced after private discussions between Trump and Von Der Leyen in his golf course Turnberry in southern Ayrshire.
Trump – Who is visiting five days in Scotland – said after their brief meeting: “We have entered into an agreement. This is a good deal for everyone.”
“It will bring us closer,” he added.
Von Der Leyen also praised him as a “huge agreement”, after “difficult negotiations”.
The senior EU has described the agreement as a “executive” agreement, with other technical details to negotiate “in the coming weeks”.
The commission has the mandate to negotiate trade agreements for the entire block – but the approval of the EU member states is still needed, whose ambassadors will meet on Monday for a debriefing of the Commission.
Trump said the EU would increase its investment in the United States by $ 600 billion (446 billion pounds Sterling), including US military equipment, and spends $ 750 billion.
This investment over the next three years in American liquefied natural gas, nuclear and nuclear fuels said Von Der Leyen, helping to reduce European dependence on Russian energy sources.
Some goods do not attract any rate, including planes and plane coins, certain chemicals and certain agricultural products. A separate agreement on semiconductors could be announced soon.
A key area where an agreement has not yet been concluded is alcohol, France and the Netherlands in particular in search of tariff exemptions for their respective wine and beer industries.
But an American price of 50% that Trump implemented on steel and aluminum worldwide would remain in place, he said.
“I would like to personally thank President Trump for his personal commitment and his management to make this breakthrough,” said Von Der Leyen.
“He is a difficult negotiator, but he is also a job.”
The two parties can paint this agreement as a victory.
For the EU, the prices could have been worse: it is not as good as the rate rate of 10% of the United Kingdom, but it is the same that the rate of 15% that Japan negotiated last week.
For the United States, this is equivalent to approximately $ 90 billion in government pricing in government chests-on the basis of business figures from last year, in addition there are hundreds of billions of dollars in investment that should have come to the United States.
One thing is clear: Trump famous after concluding the biggest trade agreement in history.
Although there are many advantages for the United States in this offer, it is less clear what the EU wins.
It should be noted that Von Der Leyen spoke of “rebalances” the commercial relationship.
Previously, the EU has argued that the relationship is not unbalanced because the EU buys many more America services than it sells to them.
It seemed that Von Der Leyen deliberately spoke of Trump’s language in order to seal the agreement.
He came after the American president finished 18 holes at the Turnberry Resort with customers and the family, including his son Eric, in the middle of the shower conditions.
The trade in goods between the EU and the United States totaled around $ 976 billion last year. The United States imported around $ 606 billion into EU goods and exported around $ 370 billion in 2024.
This imbalance, or commercial deficit, is a point of collision for Trump. He says that trade relations like this mean that the United States “loses”.
If he had followed prices against Europe, import taxes would have been deducted from products from Spanish pharmaceutical products to Italian leather, German electronics and French cheese.
The EU said that he was ready to retaliate with prices on American products, including car parts, Boeing planes and beef.
European leaders cautiously welcomed the agreement.
The Irish Prime Minister, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, noted the fact that the prices would be always higher than before, which makes trade “more expensive and more difficult”.
Among EU countries, Ireland is the most dependent of the United States as an export market.
The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz posted on X that a trade conflict would have struck hard in Germany.
“Stable and predictable trade relations with market access benefit all on both sides of the Atlantic, businesses and consumers,” he added.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised the agreement, but said she had to see the details, the Italian Ansa Ansa report reported.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning his own meeting with Trump in Turnberry on Monday.
The American president will be in Aberdeen on Tuesday, where his family has another golf course and opens a third next month.
The president and his sons plan to help cut the ribbon on the new fairway.
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