The European Union and the United States have reached a trade agreement, US President Donald Trump said following talks that ended on 27 July in Scotland.
According to him, the current agreement is the largest of any already concluded by the United States, the US import duty for the EU will be 15 per cent (like the EU duty for the US), not 30 per cent as it would have been if no agreement had been reached.
Trump also indicated that the EU would buy $150 billion worth of energy resources from the US, and this would solve “a lot of problems for Europe.”
In the near future, in early August, the deadline set by US President Donald Trump for trade agreements will expire. After its end, high import duties will be imposed on those countries or associations that do not come to an agreement with Washington.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived to meet Trump at his Turnberry Golf Club in south-west Scotland. Both she and Trump told reporters before the meeting began that they hoped a deal could be struck.
European Commission member responsible for trade Maroš Ševčovič and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also travelled to Scotland for the talks. According to Lutnick, Europe “wants to reach an agreement”, but in order to do so, EU representatives must offer the US president good conditions for him to abandon plans to impose a 30% duty as early as 1 August.
The EU had previously prepared measures in response to the US duties. They were frozen after the Trump administration in April froze its decision to raise import duties for most of the world’s countries in order to negotiate with them. So far, the US has managed to strike trade agreements with a small number of countries. For most countries, the decision to raise duties is expected to take effect on 1 August.