US and EU reach trade deal centred on 15 per cent tariff
US president Donald Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen reached a trade deal on Sunday after holding talks in Scotland. The agreement centres on a baseline tariff of 15 per cent on EU goods sold to the US.
Shortly after the meeting, Trump revealed some initial details of the deal to reporters, including a 15 per cent tariff on most goods, according to The New York Times. Von der Leyen said the newly agreed deal would "rebalance" the trading relationship between the US and the EU. Further details are yet to be released.
The two leaders met on Sunday at the Trump family's luxury golf resort on the west coast of Scotland in an attempt to reach an agreement. Shortly before they sat down together, Trump stated that a few issues still needed to be resolved.
30 per cent threat
Prior to the deal, a tariff of 50 per cent applied to steel and aluminium, 25 per cent to cars and car parts, and a general tariff of 10 per cent to virtually all other products. The unofficial deadline for the trade talks had been 1 August for some time, but Trump increased the pressure in mid-July by announcing that tariffs of 30 per cent would come into effect on that date.
Prior to the meeting, the EU stated that a mutually beneficial deal was still possible, although on Thursday it published a list of American products worth 93 billion euros that would be subject to tariffs from 7 August if no satisfactory agreement was reached.
50-50 chance
According to diplomatic sources, member states were prepared to accept an agreement involving 15 per cent tariffs on European products. Before leaving for Scotland on Friday, Trump said he considered the chances of reaching an agreement with the EU before 1 August to be "50-50".
Ahead of the meeting, Trump emphasised that he wanted Europe to open up more to American products, particularly cars and agricultural produce. He also clarified that the agreement under discussion would not cover pharmaceutical products, and confirmed that any agreement reached would be valid for several years.
US president Donald Trump shakes hands with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen ahead of their meeting to discuss trade tariffs © PHOTO BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI /AFP
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