Upperhill News

The United States and the European Union agreed have reaached an agreemeent to a trade framework, setting a 15% tariff on most goods, thereby staving off — at least for now — far higher imports on both sides that might have sent shock waves through economies around the globe.

This disclosure came after President Trump and European Commission Chief, Ursula von der Leyen, met briefly at Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland.

The private meeting of the duo culminated months of bargaining, with the White House deadline Friday nearing for imposing punishing tariffs on the EU’s 27 member countries.

“It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s going to be great for both parties,” Trump said.

“The agreement,” he said, was “a good deal for everybody” and “a giant deal with lots of countries.”

Trump said the EU had agreed to buy some $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and invest $600 billion more than it already is in America — as well as make a major military equipment purchase.

He said tariffs “for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15%” and meant that U.S. exporters ”have the opening up of all of the European countries.”

According to Von der Leyen, the deal will bring stability, it will bring predictability, that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

As with other recent tariff agreements that Trump announced with countries including Japan and the United Kingdom, some major details remain pending in this one.

Von der Leyen said the 15% tariffs were “across the board, all inclusive” and that “indeed, basically the European market is open.”

At a later news conference away from Turnberry, she said the $750 billion in additional U.S. energy purchases was actually over the next three years — and would help ease the dependence on natural gas from Russia among the bloc’s countries.

“When the European Union and the United States work together as partners, the benefits are tangible,” Von der Leyen said, noting that the agreement “stabilized on a single, 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports” including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
15% is a clear ceiling,” she said.


She also clarified that such a rate wouldn’t apply to everything, saying that both sides agreed on “zero for zero tariffs on a number of strategic products,” like all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials.


“And we will keep working to add more products to this list,” she said, while also stressing that the “framework means the figures we have just explained to the public, but, of course, details have to be sorted out. And that will happen over the next weeks.”

It is unclear if alcohol will be included in that list.