world war fee The US president and EU chief agreed to a deal over the weekend, averting a trade war between the world’s two largest economies, but the agreement has a number of European leaders calling foul.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, published a brief outline of the new trade deal terms in a press release on Saturday, with the most glaring detail being the new one-way tariff regime that establishes a single 15 percent tariff on EU exports to the US. Those tariffs cover “most sectors,” she said, including cars, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals.
“This 15% is a clear ceiling. No stacking. All-inclusive,” von der Leyen added. “So it gives much-needed clarity for our citizens and businesses.”
Clarity, perhaps, but comfort likely not: Tariff rates on EU exports to the US varied prior to Trump’s trade war, but they were still in the single digits before this.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou didn’t mince words over what he thought of the deal, calling it nothing short of a disaster for Europe.
“It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” the French PM said in a post on X.
Beyond accepting a new 15 percent tariff on exports to the US, the EU also offered a number of concessions to Trump that will be a definite boost to the US economy, but a less clear victory for Europe.
Increased energy cooperation will see the EU replace purchases of Russian gas and oil with liquefied natural gas, oil, and nuclear fuels from the United States. The EU will also increase its purchases of leading-edge US AI chips that von der Leyen said “will help power our AI gigafactories and help the US to maintain their technological edge.”
Trump has stated that the EU has promised to buy $750 billion worth of energy over three years as part of the deal, a commitment experts have said may be hard for the EU to meet. US energy exports only totaled $330 billion last year, just $80 billion of which went to Europe. The US would have to export $250 billion annually under the deal for the EU to meet those terms.
One small win for the EU sees it and the US establishing a few “zero-for-zero” tariffs on products including aircraft and their components, “certain chemicals,” some generic drugs, semiconductor equipment (chips themselves are subject to the 15 percent tariff), and other items. The EU President said she expects to expand the list over time.
It’s entirely unclear, on the other hand, whether tariffs on metals like steel and aluminum will change because of the deal. As of now, the US has a 50 percent tariff on imports of EU steel and aluminum, and von der Leyen mentioned the “common external challenge” of overcapacity of both metals that both the EU and the US face. While she noted that “tariffs will be cut” and “a quota system will be put in place,” she didn’t say anything concrete about a metals deal.
European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič, in his own statement on the deal, did little to clarify the metals issue.
“The agreement sees clear prospects of joint action on steel, aluminium, copper and their derivatives,” Šefčovič said, noting that the deal is “effectively creating a joint ringfence around our respective economies through tariff rate quotas at historic levels with preferential treatment.”
The US tariffs on EU steel and aluminum appear to still be in place as of press time.
Trump and von der Leyen’s agreement on the deal doesn’t mean it’s a sure thing, of course. As a matter that affects the entirety of the EU, each of the 27 member states will get to vote to ratify the trade agreement. That might be a hard sell.
France, as we’ve already mentioned, seems ready to resist, as does German EU parliamentarian Bernd Lange, who called the deal unsatisfactory in a post on X.
“This is a lopsided deal. Concessions have clearly been made that are difficult to accept,” Lange said in his post. He also called attention to the lack of hard details presented by the pair of leaders.
Lange and Bayrou aren’t alone in their criticism, either, and it seems none of the European leaders weighing in on the deal are that happy about it. However, some countries seem quietly resolved to the outcome.
“The trade conditions will not be as good as before, and it is not our choice, but a balance must be found that stabilises the situation and that both sides can live with,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said.
Von der Leyen seemed to capitulate to that interpretation in her statement.
“With this deal, we are creating more predictability for our businesses,” von der Leyen said. “And … we are securing access to our largest export market.”
The European Commission didn’t respond to questions for this story. ®