
Donald Trump announced an agreement with the European Union on Sunday that will cut tariff rates down to 15% on imports from the trade bloc, while US exports will be tariff-free.
The president spoke alongside European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland as he announced the news.
âAll of the countries will be opened up to trade with the United States at zero tariff [for U.S. exports],â Trump told reporters, shaking von der Leyenâs hand.
âWe are agreeing that the tariff straight across for automobiles and everything else, will be a straight across tariff of 15%. So we have a tariff of 15%; we have the opening up of all of the European countries, which I think I could say [those markets] were essentially closed,â said the president. He also touted a number of impending EU investments, including a purchase of military materials.
Von der Leyen confirmed: âIt is 15% tariffs across the board.â
âWe have a trade deal between the two largest economies in the world, and it’s a big deal. It’s a huge deal. It will bring stability. It will bring predictability. That’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,â said the European Commission president.
Asked about U.S. concessions in the deal, and the apparent imbalance of the US-EU tariff rates going forward, von der Leyen cast the agreement as meant to address existing issues, and told one reporter: âThe starting point was an imbalance, a surplus on our side and a deficit on the US side.â
The president briefly answered questions from reporters, though he claimed not to hear one about his deputy attorney general (and former personal attorney)âs meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell, imprisoned accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein.
He also claimed to have told the respective leaders of Cambodia and Thailand that the two countries needed to cease armed clashes along their respective borders in order to secure trade agreements with his administration.
Further information about the agreement was not immediately released by the White House, either to pool reporters or through other media channels.