The United States and the European Union have reached a trade deal just days before tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were set to revert to higher rates.
Announced on Sunday, July 27, following a meeting at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the agreement avoids a return to the administration’s earlier, steeper tariff schedule.
Under the deal:
The U.S. will maintain a 15% tariff on most EU imports, including cars.
Pharmaceuticals are excluded from the tariff list.
Steel and aluminum tariffs remain unchanged, as Trump described those duties as “a worldwide thing that stays the way it is.”
The EU will commit to purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy and make $600 billion in military equipment investments.
Trump stated that EU goods would face reduced barriers entering the U.S. market, though specifics remain unclear.
“It’s great that we made a deal instead of playing games,” Trump said to reporters.
Von der Leyen responded, “You’re known as a tough negotiator and dealmaker. If we are successful, I think it would be the biggest deal each of us has ever struck.”
Former EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström noted that trade between the U.S. and the EU’s 27 member states already amounts to roughly $4 billion daily, underscoring the deal’s potential scale.
Separate U.S.-China Trade Pause
Meanwhile, trade tensions between the U.S. and China remain in a holding pattern. According to the South China Morning Post, both nations agreed to extend a pause on their retaliatory tariffs ahead of talks scheduled for Monday, July 28, in Stockholm.
