On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States and the European Union (E.U.) had finalized a trade agreement that lowers tariffs to 15%, resolving months of trade-related uncertainty with the U.S.’s top trading ally.This new rate marks a significant decrease from the 30% tariff Trump threatened to impose on July 12, as well as the 20% he mentioned back in April.
This new arrangement bears strong resemblance to a deal struck with Japan earlier in the week, which also resulted in a 15% import tax—lower than what had previously been suggested by the former president.
During the announcement, Trump stated that the EU had agreed not to place tariffs on American goods. Standing alongside Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized that the agreement would foster “stability and predictability”—two elements she said are critical for businesses operating on both sides of the Atlantic.
Negotiations had been ongoing for weeks between EU officials and top U.S. trade figures, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Talks were reportedly nearing completion when Trump abruptly posted on Truth Social, declaring a plan to raise tariffs to 30%.
Following Trump’s surprise statement, von der Leyen warned that such a steep increase would severely disrupt critical transatlantic supply chains, causing harm to industries, consumers, and even healthcare sectors on both continents. The EU reaffirmed its commitment to securing a deal before the self-imposed August 1 deadline. At the same time, officials continued crafting a retaliatory tariff list targeting around $100 billion worth of American goods in case negotiations fell through.
The EU, made up of 27 member nations, remains the United States’ largest source of imported goods. In 2024, the U.S. imported roughly $605 billion worth of goods from the bloc—more than it brought in from Mexico, Canada, or China. Leading those imports were pharmaceutical products, especially from Ireland, followed by automobiles, aircraft, and industrial equipment from countries like Germany and France.
Editorial credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com
