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Hindustan Times
27 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Trump reveals what he did at NATO summit to keep leaders & wives happy… EU-US trade deal
Trump reveals what he did at NATO summit to keep leaders & wives happy…| Ursula| EU-US trade deal
Mint
27 minutes ago
- Mint
US-EU trade deal: Winners, losers, and what's missing? Who benefits and what new deal mean?
US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have unveiled a broad trade agreement that sets 15% tariffs on most European imports. This averts Trump's earlier warning of a 30% rate if a deal isn't struck by 1 August. These tariffs, import taxes applied to European goods bought by Americans, could raise prices for US consumers and reduce profits for European businesses and their US partners. Here are some things to know about the trade deal between the United States and the European Union: Trump and von der Leyen's announcement, made during Trump's visit to one of his golf courses in Scotland, leaves many details to be filled in. The headline figure is a 15% tariff rate on 'the vast majority' of European goods brought into the US, including cars, computer chips and pharmaceuticals. it's lower than the 20% Trump initially proposed, and lower than his threats of 50% and then 30%. Von der Leyen said the two sides agreed on zero tariffs on both sides for a range of 'strategic' goods-Aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, and some natural resources and critical raw materials. Specifics were lacking. She said the two sides 'would keep working' to add more products to the list. Additionally, the EU side would purchase what Trump said was USD 750 billion worth of natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel to replace Russian energy supplies, and Europeans would invest an additional USD 600 billion in the US. Trump said the 50% US tariff on imported steel would remain; von der Leyen said the two sides agreed to further negotiations to fight a global steel glut, reduce tariffs and establish import quotas, that is, set amounts that can be imported, often at a lower rate. Trump said pharmaceuticals were not included in the deal. Von der Leyen said the pharmaceuticals issue was 'on a separate sheet of paper' from Sunday's deal. Where the USD 600 billion for additional investment would come from was not specified. And von der Leyen said that when it came to farm products, the EU side made clear that 'there were tariffs that could not be lowered,' without specifying which products. The 15% rate removes Trump's threat of a 30% tariff. It's still much higher than the average tariff before Trump came into office, of around 1%, and higher than Trump's minimum 10% baseline tariff. Higher tariffs, or import taxes, on European goods mean sellers in the U.S. would have to either increase prices for consumers, risking loss of market share or swallow the added cost in terms of lower profits. The higher tariffs are expected to hurt export earnings for European firms and slow the economy. The 10% baseline applied while the deal was negotiated was already sufficiently high to make the European Union's executive commission cut its growth forecast for this year from 1.3% to 0.9%. Von der Leyen said the 15% rate was 'the best we could do' and credited the deal with maintaining access to the US market and providing 'stability and predictability for companies on both sides.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal, which avoided 'an unnecessary escalation in transatlantic trade relations" and said that 'we were able to preserve our core interests,' while adding that 'I would have very much wished for further relief in transatlantic trade.' The Federation of German Industries was blunter. "Even a 15% tariff rate will have immense negative effects on export-oriented German industry," said Wolfgang Niedermark, a member of the federation's leadership. While the rate is lower than threatened, "the big caveat to today's deal is that there is nothing on paper, yet," said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank. 'With this disclaimer in mind and at face value, today's agreement would clearly bring an end to the uncertainty of recent months. An escalation of the US-EU trade tensions would have been a severe risk for the global economy," Brzeski said. 'This risk seems to have been avoided.' When asked whether European carmakers could still compete under the new 15% tariff, von der Leyen noted that the rate is significantly lower than the previous 27.5% which included Trump's 25% tariff on foreign cars, along with the existing 2.5% U.S. car import duty. The effect on some companies is expected to be considerable. Automaker Volkswagen, for instance, reported a $1.5 billion loss in profit during the first half of the year due to the higher tariffs. Mercedes-Benz dealers in the US have said they are holding the line on 2025 model year prices 'until further notice.' The German automaker has a partial tariff shield because it makes 35% of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in the U.S. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but the company said it expects prices to undergo 'significant increases' in the coming years. Before Trump returned to office, the US and the EU maintained relatively low tariff rates within the world's largest bilateral trading relationship, totalling around $2 trillion annually. Combined, the U.S. and EU account for 44% of the global economy. According to the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank, the average U.S. tariff on European goods was 1.47%, while the EU's average tariff on American products stood at 1.35%. Trump has complained about the EU's 198 billion-euro trade surplus in goods, which shows Americans buy more from European businesses than the other way around, and has said the European market is not open enough for US-made cars. Von der Leyen said the 15% rate was 'the best we could do' and credited the deal with maintaining access to the US market. Even a 15% tariff rate will have immense negative effects on export-oriented German industry. However, American companies fill some of the trade gap by outselling the EU when it comes to services such as cloud computing, travel bookings, and legal and financial services. And some 30% of European imports are from American-owned companies, according to the European Central Bank.
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Business Standard
27 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Donald Trump, EU's Von Der Leyen cite conflicting details on trade deal
President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appear to differ on some key details in their new trade agreement, underscoring the difficulty they may have in turning this deal into a reality. The European Union said it would accept a 15 per cent tariff on nearly all its exports to the US. Trump told reporters that the bloc also agreed to open up its 'countries to trade at zero tariff.' After he met with von der Leyen Sunday, Trump said that the deal would not include pharmaceuticals, a contentious point in the negotiations, seeming to imply they would be subject to a higher tariff. In a separate news conference, von der Leyen said, 'The EU agreed we have 15 per cent for pharmaceuticals.' But she added, 'Whatever decisions later – by the president of the US – that's on a different sheet of paper.' Senior US officials later said that the two sides agreed on a 15 per cent tariff level for the EU's pharmaceutical exports. A separate Section 232 probe on pharmaceuticals is still coming over the next three weeks, but the EU tariff level will remain at 15 per cent, the officials added. The US has initiated investigations into whether the import of certain products, such as aerospace and semiconductors, poses a national security threat to the country. This could lead to separate tariffs on some sectors. Trade accords typically require years of negotiations and can run thousands of pages long. Talks on the preliminary agreement clinched on Sunday began in April and concrete details appear scant. The EU and US also diverged on another controversial sector, with Trump saying that the 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum 'stays the way it is.' Von der Leyen said that metal 'tariffs will be cut and a quota system will be put in place.' The deal doesn't cover the EU's steel and aluminum exports, which will remain subject to 50 per cent tariffs, according to senior US officials. Aerospace tariffs, meanwhile, will remain at 0 per cent pending the outcome of a Section 232 probe, the officials added. Von der Leyen argued that she won certainty and stability for companies on both sides of the Atlantic. But it's far from clear that the EU and US will be able to iron out all their differences on the many contentious issues yet to deal with. 'The focus will now turn to interpretation and implementation risk, posing a mix of political and technical questions,' Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at Teneo, wrote in a note. 'Given the nature of the deal, major uncertainties are likely to persist.'
