Scotland (TDI): The United States President, Donald Trump, and the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a trade deal on Sunday in Scotland, ahead of the August 1 deadline for tariffs.
The trade agreement includes a 15% tariff on all European goods, which also includes automobiles. The 15 percent baseline rate marks a reprieve for Europe’s auto industry, which was subjected to a 25 percent duty since April on top of a pre-existing 2.5 percent levy.
According to the trade agreement few products are completely exempted from tariffs, which include plane parts, semiconductor equipment, certain chemicals, and some agricultural products.
Trump told the reporters that the trade agreement is the “biggest deal ever made,” he also said, “It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s going to be great for both parties.”
Whereas, European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen said that this deal with bring stability and prosperity and also “bring predictability that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”
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Trump also announced that the European Union has agreed to buy around $750 billion worth of energy from the US, and also to boost overall investment in the US by $600 billion, and to place a large order for military equipment.
On Sunday, during the private meeting, President European Commission, Von der Leyen, pointed to the combined economic potential of the US and Europe, mentioning that their trade encompassed “hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars”.
Von der Leyen also acknowledged Trump’s “tough” reputation as a negotiator, to which he replied: “But fair.”
The trade agreement is secured days before the United States was set to impose a 30% tariff on European goods starting from August 1, 2025, and thus it is one of the most significant trade deals Trump has had so far, after Vietnam, Japan, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The European Union is the United States’ biggest trade partner, and the two-way trade of products and services reached about $2 trillion in 2024.
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