Trump and von der Leyen agree EU-US deal on US President's Scotland visit
President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement would provide 'certainty in uncertain times' for citizens and businesses, while Mr Trump hailed what he described as the 'biggest deal ever made'.
They also agreed 'zero for zero' tariffs on a number of products including aircraft, some agricultural goods and certain chemicals, Ms von der Leyen said.
The two leaders met at the US President's Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire on Sunday to hammer out the broad terms of the agreement, the detail of which is due to be fleshed out in the coming weeks.
Before their bilateral talks, which lasted around an hour, Mr Trump had said there was a '50-50' chance of the deal being reached as a number of the sticking points remained.
Following the meeting, he said: 'I think it's great that we made a deal today instead of playing games and maybe not making a deal at all … I think it's the biggest deal ever made.'
Ms von der Leyen said: 'Today's deal creates certainty in uncertain times, it delivers stability and predictability for citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.'
Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin welcomed the 'clarity' the agreement brought to the transatlantic trade relationship and said the implications for exports from Ireland would be studied in the coming days.
Together, the EU and the US are a market of 800 million people. And nearly 44 percent of global GDP.
It's the biggest trade deal ever ↓ https://t.co/rG3cHebXEk
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 27, 2025
'That is good for businesses, investors and consumers. It will help protect many jobs in Ireland,' he said.
'The negotiations to get us to this point have been long and complex, and I would like to thank both teams for their patient work.
'We will now study the detail of what has been agreed, including its implications for businesses exporting from Ireland to the US, and for different sectors operating here.'
The development on Sunday evening looks to have averted the prospect of transatlantic trade war amid concerns that US tariff rates could damage the world economy.
However, uncertainty remains over American levies on steel, which Mr Trump has suggested remains subject to a rate of 50%.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
18 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Rwanda hostel spruced up with £20m of Brit taxpayer cash to receive first deportees — from America
Some will enjoy hotel-quality facilities at Hope Hostel SCHEME TRUMPED Rwanda hostel spruced up with £20m of Brit taxpayer cash to receive first deportees — from America Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE Rwanda hostel spruced up with £20million of British taxpayers' money to house our unwanted migrants is to receive its first deportees — from America. Rwanda is taking in 250 migrants thrown out of the US under Donald Trump's mass removal programme. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Rwanda is taking in 250 migrants thrown out of the US under Donald Trump's mass removal programme Credit: Getty Some will enjoy hotel-quality facilities at Hope Hostel, which was readied under the then-Tory government's deportation scheme last summer. The £700million plan was ditched when Labour won the election. Trump is now pushing ahead with his scheme. A Hope Hostel source told The Sun yesterday: 'We are always ready to provide the best services to the customers.' Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo confirmed those arriving in the country would be given support. She added: 'Under the agreement, Rwanda has the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement. 'Those approved will be provided with workforce training, healthcare and accommodation support to jump-start their lives in Rwanda.' The initial agreement — signed last month — is for 250 people but can be extended if both countries agree. Britain signed its agreement in 2022. Four UK arrivals were sent to Rwanda but that was under a separate voluntary scheme and did not involve their moving into Hope Hostel. Ismael Bakina, boss of the private operator of the hostel, said the US arrivals would be surprised at the quality of the services offered, adding: 'This is not a prison or a detention centre.' I visited Rwanda's £20m 'migrant hotel' where UK asylum seekers will stay – it's got Premier League on TV & footie pitch
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
America's Most Wanted: Texas senator calls on FBI director Kash Patel to hunt down ‘fleeing' Democrats
Republican Senator John Cornyn is calling on the FBI to track down and arrest Texas Democrats who left the state to derail a vote on new congressional districts explicitly designed to elect more Republicans to Congress. In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday, Cornyn requested the agency's help to 'locate the out-of-state Texas legislators who are potentially acting in violation of the law.' 'The FBI has tools to aid state law enforcement when parties cross state lines, including to avoid testifying or fleeing a scene of a crime,' he added. Democrats did not break the law by denying the Texas House of Representatives a quorum. Texas House rules allow lawmakers to issue civil arrest warrants to force members back to the capitol, but leaving the chambers is not a criminal offense, and federal law enforcement does not have authority to compel lawmakers to come back to Texas. But Cornyn, echoing claims from Texas Republicans, has accused Texas Democrats of 'potential criminal acts' — including bribery or 'other public corruption offenses' — for allegedly receiving monetary support to leave the state until the end of a 30-day legislative session. The senator's allegations have escalated law enforcement threats against Texas lawmakers who are protesting a GOP plan, requested by Donald Trump, to redraw political boundaries in the hopes of electing five more Texas Republicans into the House of Representatives in next year's midterm elections. Trump on Tuesday claimed he is 'entitled' to those seats. The office of Governor Greg Abbott, who launched the legislative session to explicitly approve the new congressional maps before 2026 midterm elections, said he supports Cornyn's move. The governor has said that the use of campaign funds to help pay for hefty fines for 'truancy' amounts to bribery. On Monday, he called on the Texas Rangers to investigate his allegations as well as 'potential legal violations connected to their refusal to appear for a quorum, conduct business, and cast votes.' Abbot 'fully supports using all necessary tools to discover potential legal violations connected to their refusal to appear for a quorum, conduct business, and cast votes,' his office said in a statement. Texas Republicans failed to reach a quorum a second day in a row on Tuesday while more than 50 Texas Democrats remain in Illinois, New York and elsewhere. 'This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,' Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu said from Illinois on Sunday night after leaving the state with several other Democrats. On Monday, state Republicans voted in favor of their arrest. Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he would immediately sign civil warrants for those missing Democratic members, giving the greenlight to the chamber's sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to make arrests and bring them to the state Capitol. The warrants only apply within state lines, making the legislative threats a largely symbolic maneuver. The House met for roughly five minutes on Tuesday before adjourning. 'It is evident to the chair that [the Department of Public Safety] will need some time to work, and we will try again to make quorum on Friday,' Burrows said. Burrows met with state law enforcement officials on Tuesday morning to discuss how to enforce the warrants. 'The Texas Constitution requires members of the Legislature to show up, and Texans expect us to do our jobs,' Burrows wrote on X. 'I remain fully committed to obtaining a quorum and resuming the business of the Texas House.' Following Monday's vote, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he is 'prepared to do everything in my power to hold them accountable because these liberal lawmakers are not above the law.' 'It's imperative that they be swiftly arrested, punished, and face the full force of the law for turning their backs on the people of Texas,' he said. Texas Democrats had similarly left the state in 2021 to protest Republican-backed voting restrictions. After nearly five weeks on the road, enough lawmakers returned home to establish a quorum, and the measure passed. Republican lawmakers had similarly tried to force back missing Democrats at the time, though they obtained a court-ordered injunction blocking their arrest. The state's Supreme Court later struck down the injunction, finding that while the state Constitution 'enables 'quorum-breaking' by a minority faction of the legislature, it likewise authorizes 'quorum-forcing' by the remaining members.'
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Ghislaine Maxwell doesn't want grand jury transcripts released, say lawyers
Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell wants to keep grand jury records secret in the sex trafficking case that sent her to prison, her lawyers have said. It comes as prosecutors in the US urge a court to release some of those records in the criminal case-turned-political fireball. Advertisement Maxwell has not seen the material herself, her lawyers said — the grand jury process is conducted behind closed doors. Some of US President Donald Trump's allies spent years suggesting there was more to the Epstein saga than met the eye and calling for more disclosures (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP) But she opposes unsealing what her lawyers described as potentially 'hearsay-laden' transcripts of grand jury evidence, which was given in secret and without her lawyers there to challenge it. 'Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable and her due process rights remain,' lawyers David O Markus and Melissa Madrigal wrote. A message seeking comment from prosecutors was not immediately returned. Advertisement US government lawyers have been trying to quell a clamour for transparency by seeking the transcripts' release — although the government also says the public already knows much of what is in the documents. Most of the information 'was made publicly available at trial or has otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of victims and witnesses,' prosecutors wrote in court papers on Monday. They noted that the disclosures excluded some victims' and witnesses' names. Prosecutors had also said last week that some of what the grand jurors heard eventually came out at Maxwell's 2021 trial and in various victims' legal cases. Advertisement There were only two grand jury witnesses, both of them law enforcement officials, prosecutors said. Prosecutors made clear on Monday that they are seeking to unseal only the transcripts of grand jury witnesses' evidence, not the exhibits that accompanied it. But they are also working to parse how much of the exhibits also became public record over the years. While prosecutors have sought to temper expectations about any new revelations from the grand jury proceedings, they are not proposing to release a cache of other information the government collected while looking into Epstein. Advertisement The filing aimed to support their request to release the usually secret records amid a public clamour for more transparency about the investigation into Epstein, six years after the financier died in prison. Maxwell, his former girlfriend, was later convicted of helping him prey on underage girls. The transcript face-off comes six years after authorities said Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges and four years after Maxwell was convicted. Some of US President Donald Trump's allies spent years suggesting there was more to the Epstein saga than met the eye and calling for more disclosures. Advertisement A few got powerful positions in Mr Trump's Justice Department — and then faced backlash after it abruptly announced that nothing more would be released and that a long-rumoured Epstein 'client list' does not exist. After trying unsuccessfully to change the subject and denigrating his own supporters for staying interested in Epstein, the Republican president told Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask courts to unseal the grand jury transcripts in the case.
