Will Weissert from the Associated Press
Edinburgh, Scotland (AP) — The US and the European Union agreed on a trade framework that sets a 15% tariff on most goods on Sunday, taking away much higher import duties on both sides that may have sent shockwaves through the economy around the world, at least for now.
The drastic announcement comes after President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met briefly at Trump’s Turnberry Golf Course in Scotland. Their private sit-ins were months of negotiations, and the White House deadline approached on Friday by punishing tariffs on 27 EU member states.
“It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s great for both of them,” Trump said. He said the agreement was “a good deal for everyone” and a “huge deal with many countries.”
Von Der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability and predictability. This is extremely important to us on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Many facets require more work
Like other recent customs agreements that Trump has announced with countries including Japan and the UK, some major details are pending in this article.
Trump said the EU has agreed to buy US energy for about $750 billion worth, investing already $600 billion more than the US, and to buy key military equipment. He said that the tariff “automobiles and everything else will be straight ahead above the 15% tariff” means that US exporters “have openness to all European countries.”
Von Der Leyen said the 15% tariff was “comprehensively comprehensive” and “in fact, the European market is basically open.”
At a press conference after her departure from Turnberry, she said $750 billion of US additional energy purchases has actually been made over the next three years, helping to ease bloc countries’ dependence on natural gas from Russia.
“When the European Union and the US work together as partners, the benefits are concrete,” Von Der Leyen said, “it has been stabilized at a single 15% tariff rate for the majority of EU exports.”
“15% is clear ceiling,” she said.
However, Von Der Leyen made it clear that such rates do not apply to all, saying that both parties agreed “about zero tariffs for many strategic products,” including all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some produce, natural resources, important raw materials, and more.
It is unknown whether alcohol is on that list.
“And we’ll continue to work on adding more products to this list,” she said, emphasizing that “the framework means the numbers we just explained to the general public, but of course we need to sort out the details and that’s going to happen in the coming weeks.”
Additionally, EU approval is required
In the meantime, there are other things to do. Von Der Leyen was obliged to negotiate as the European Commission handled the trade of member states. However, the committee now has to present the contract to member states and EU lawmakers.
Before their meeting began, Trump pledged to change what he characterized as “a very one-sided deal, very unfair to the United States.”
“Both sides want to see fairness,” the Republican president told reporters.
Von Der Leyen added that the US and EU totals the largest trade volume in the world, covering hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars, and that Trump is “known as a tough negotiator and deal maker.”
“But it’s fair,” Trump said.
Trump has spent months threatening much of the world, hoping to reduce the US major trade deficit with many key trading partners. Recently, he had suggested that transactions with the EU would have to “buy” the 30% tariff rate, which was set to be effective.
However, in his comments before the agreement was announced, when asked if the president was willing to accept tariff charges of less than 15%, he said “no.”
First golf, then trade talk
Their meeting will include Trump playing golf for the second day in a row at Turnbury, and this time negotiating a deal with a group that includes his sons Eric and Donald Jr., as well as a five-day visit to Scotland will be built around golf, promoting the property with his name.
A small group of demonstrators on the course waving the American flag and raised signs criticizing British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer, who is planning a turnberry meeting with Trump on Monday.
Other voices can be heard chanting in cheering on “Trump! Trump!” When he played nearby.
On Tuesday, Trump is in Aberdeen, northeastern Scotland, where his family will hold another golf course and open a third next month. The president and his son will help cut ribbons on a new course.
The US and the EU were approaching trading earlier this month, but instead Trump threatened a 30% tariff rate. The deadline for the Trump administration to begin imposing tariffs has changed in recent weeks, but it is now a solid Friday, and the administration has argued.
“There is no expansion, there is no period of bounty. On August 1st, tariffs were set, they were introduced, customs began collecting money, we’re going,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told “Fox News Sunday” before the EU deal was announced. But he later added, “People can still talk to President Trump, meaning he’s always willing to listen.”
Without an agreement, the EU said it was ready to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing planes.
Meanwhile, if Trump ultimately followed the threat of tariffs on Europe, it would have made everything more expensive in the US, from French cheese and Italian leather products to German electronics and Spanish medicines.
“I think it’s great that we traded today, not playing games or not trading at all,” Trump said. “I think this is the biggest deal ever.”
Associated Press authors Sun Min Kim of Cincinnati and Samuel Petrekin of London contributed to the report.
Original issue: July 28, 2025 8:10am EDT
