President Trump announced a sweeping new preliminary trade deal with the European Union, under which the 27-nation bloc has committed to buying $750 billion worth of American energy and boosting its investment in the U.S. by an additional $600 billion beyond existing levels.
The United States will implement a 15% tariff on the majority of goods imported from the European Union. Trump announced the agreement shortly after holding talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry resort. "I think it's the biggest deal ever made," Trump said. The deal will bring much relief to investors who had been reeling under fears of a global trade war.
Trump Does It Gain
"I think we both wanted to make a deal," the president added. "It's going to bring us closer together. I think this deal will bring us very close together." As part of the deal, Europe also agreed to "purchase a vast amount of military equipment" from the US, though Trump noted, "We don't know what that number is" yet.
Trump and von der Leyen shook hands and praised one another for reaching the deal, but remained vague about what the U.S. had given up in return.
"The starting point was an imbalance — a surplus on our side and a deficit on the US side," the EU boss said when asked about the concessions Trump made. "And we wanted to rebalance the trade relation, and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic."
Trump had warned that he would impose a 30 percent tariff on EU nations if the influential trading bloc didn't come to an agreement with the United States.
Von der Leyen flew to Scotland to meet with Trump at his resort in an effort to finalize the deal. Just an hour before the announcement, both leaders estimated there was only a 50 percent chance of striking an agreement.
Trump's Planned Move
Prior to unveiling the deal, Trump indicated that "pharmaceuticals won't be part" in the deal, explaining that his administration intends to take a more aggressive approach to bring drug manufacturing back to the U.S.
Von der Leyen praised Trump, calling him a strong negotiator and skilled dealmaker. "And fair," Trump interjected.
Trump, during his informal talk with reporters on Sunday, made it clear that he has no plans to postpone the August 1 deadline for his specially designed "Liberation Day" tariffs to begin—despite having pushed it back twice before,
To date, Trump has secured initial tariff agreements with the UK, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. He also hinted that his team had recently finalized another deal but did not reveal which nation was involved.
Trump currently has a variety of tariffs in place now, including a 25 percent duty on automobiles, aluminum, and steel, as well as a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico that don't meet the requirements of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He has also recently suggested the possibility of increasing those tariffs on both neighboring countries.
In addition, Trump has agreed to a temporary tariff pause with China and has given Beijing until August 12 to finalize a broader trade agreement.
Earlier this month, he issued an ultimatum to Moscow, demanding that Russia reach a peace agreement with Ukraine within 50 days or face 100% secondary tariffs on its energy exports—penalties that would apply to countries purchasing energy from Russia.
