US President Donald Trump has announced that the US and the EU have reached a tariff agreement to avert a feared trade war. At the weekend, during a visit to his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, Mr Trump said that he was “looking forward” to negotiations with the EU that he said would aim to end the bloc’s “unfair” trade relationship with the US, eventually reaching an agreement with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
“We should give it a shot,” the president said ahead of much-anticipated negotiations with von der Leyen, as he hit out at the US-EU trade relationship as “one-sided.”
The agreement, which will see a 15 per cent base tariff between the EU and the US, has been described as Trump’s “biggest deal ever.” The 15 per cent rate is down from the 30 per cent rate, which had been threatened.
Ms von der Leyen previously described Trump as a “tough negotiator,” promising that any trade deal with the EU would be the biggest struck by a US president.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Trump said: “This is probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity, trade or beyond trade.” European stocks have risen since the announcement, with Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 1.3pc earlier this morning ahead of markets opening.
Whilst there are hopes that a damaging transatlantic trade war has been averted, tensions have already surfaced in the wake of the news. French Prime Minister François Bayrou said that the deal with Brussels marked a “dark day” for Europe, as fears rise that Europe will be worse off than Britain.
“It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” Mr Bayrou said in a statement on X.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban meanwhile, said Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, was a “featherweight” who had been “eaten for breakfast” by the US president.
Brando Benifei, the Italian Socialists and Democrats MEP who chairs a committee on US relations, reacted: “We seem to have gotten worse conditions than the UK.
“That’s not a good starting point and we need to look at the details to understand what we actually get, because it is — to be frank — not clear at all from the declarations we have seen.”
Irish leadership struck a more positive tone, with the Tánaiste Simon Harris welcoming the announcement of agreement between EU and US
“While Ireland regrets that the baseline tariff of 15% is included in the agreement, it is important that we now have more certainty on the foundations for the EU-US trade relationship, which is essential for jobs, growth and investment,” Mr Harris said this morning.
“A deal provides a measure of much needed certainty for Irish, European and American businesses who together represent the most integrated trading relationship in the world. Ireland makes a key contribution to this with the Ireland-US economic relationship valued at more than one trillion euros.
“The US had made clear, and this has been replicated in other recent agreements, which the US has reached with other countries, that a baseline tariff was always going to be part of the outcome. I have always stressed that tariffs are damaging and will have a negative impact on companies exporting to the US,” Mr Harris said in a statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“There is still a lot of detail on the agreement which will need to be brought forward including in relation to pharma, aviation and other sectors. Over the coming days, we will be examining what has been agreed and the full implications for Irish business and the economy, including any implications for the all-island economy,” Harris added.
Italian Prime Minister Giogia Meloni, said in response: “I consider it positive that there is an agreement, but if I don’t see the details I am not able to judge it in the best way.”
Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium and President of the European Movement, called the deal “scandalous.”
Meanwhile, in Washington, the deal is being welcomed as a victory, with Trump advisor Stephen Miller writing on X that it was “impossible to overstate what a staggering achievement President Trump delivered for America today with his EU trade deal. A total rebalancing and reversal of generations of failed one-side trade policy. STUNNING.”