US, EU clinch trade pact ahead of August 1 deadline; Trump says 'good deal for everybody'
Ursula von der Leyen
, after a high-stakes meeting at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.
'We have reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody,' Trump told reporters, describing the outcome as a significant win for both sides. Von der Leyen echoed the sentiment, calling the agreement 'a good deal' for Europe as well.
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The breakthrough comes just days before the August 1 tariff deadline, which had loomed large over transatlantic trade as the EU and the US are each other's largest trade partners and account for 1/3 of all global trade.
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While official details of the pact have not yet been released, EU and US officials had earlier indicated that the agreement would likely include a 15% baseline tariff on most EU goods—a compromise that falls short of Europe's initial zero-tariff ambition but steers both sides away from a damaging escalation.
Talks leading up to the deal involved a flurry of last-minute diplomacy, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic ahead of the Trump–von der Leyen summit.
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The EU deal marks the fifth trade agreement the Trump adminsitration has drawn up ahead of the implementatio of the so-called "reciprocal tariffs". Earlier this month, the US also inked pacts with Britain, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam with a deal with India still hanging in the balance.
In the absence of a deal, the EU had been preparing countertariffs on $109 billion worth of American goods—an economic standoff that now appears to have been averted.
Whether sector-specific levies, such as the 50% duty on European steel and aluminium or pending tariffs on cars and pharmaceuticals, will be lifted or folded into the baseline 15% remains unclear.
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