US-EU trade war temporarily averted with 15% tariff deal amid 'imbalance' criticism
Iran Press TV
Monday, 28 July 2025 7:43 AM
The United States and the European Union have reached a deal that sets a 15% tariff on most European goods entering the US, temporarily averting a trade war—though the agreement faces sharp criticism in Europe as an 'imbalanced' deal that favors American interests.
The deal came after a private meeting on Sunday between US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.
"It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it's going to be great for both parties," Trump told reporters at his Turnberry golf resort, hailing the agreement as the "biggest deal ever made."
Trump said the EU also committed to buying about $750bn worth of US energy, in addition to boosting overall investment in the US by $600bn and placing a large order for military equipment.
Von der Leyen said the agreement would "bring stability" and "bring predictability that's very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic."
The deal, sealed days before Washington was due to impose a 30 percent tariff on EU imports, felt like an impossibility in late May.
Frustrated by a lack of progress in negotiations with the 27-member European Union, Trump on May 24 told the world he was done talking to some of America's strongest allies.
"I'm not looking for a deal," he said later that day in the Oval Office. "We've set the deal — it's at 50%."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also welcomed the agreement, saying in a statement, "This agreement has succeeded in averting a trade conflict that would have hit the export-oriented German economy hard."
However, other Europeans were more critical of the deal, viewing the baseline 15% tariff as excessively high, particularly after initially hoping for a zero-tariff agreement.
Benjamin Haddad, the French minister for Europe, wrote on X that the deal between Trump and von der Leyen "will provide temporary stability... but it is unbalanced."
Bernd Lange, the German Social Democrat leading the European Parliament's trade committee, also criticized the tariffs as imbalanced, arguing that the EU's significant planned investments in the US could ultimately harm the bloc's own interests.
Danish lawmaker Rasmus Jarlov said the announcement was "nothing to celebrate."
"Almost everything will become more expensive in both Europe and the USA, and we will all be worse off," Jarlov, a member of the Conservative People's Party, said on X.
"The economic illiteracy in the White House is doing serious damage to the West," he added.
Additionally, a senior US official warned on Sunday that Trump could further raise tariffs if European nations fail to meet their investment pledges.
The US will keep in place a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum. Von der Leyen suggested the tariff could be replaced with a quota system; a senior administration official said EU leaders had asked that the two sides continue to talk about the issue.
"The big caveat to today's deal is that there is nothing on paper, yet," Carsten Brzeski, Global Head of Macro for ING Research, said in a note.
"The next hours and days will hopefully bring more clarity; therefore, any assessment has to be taken with more than only one pinch of salt."
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