US, EU strike trade deal with broad 15% import tariff on most European goods

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that a trade agreement struck with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen sets 15 percent tariffs on exports from the European bloc.

Talking to the reporters in Scotland, the US president said that the EU had committed to investing an extra $600 billion in the United States, as well as purchasing $750 billion worth of energy.

The announcement came after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travelled for talks with US President Donald Trump at his golf course in western Scotland to push a hard-fought deal over the line.

Ursula von der Leyen said a US baseline tariff rate of 15% on imported EU goods would apply to cars, semiconductors and pharmaceutical goods.

She also said that a zero-for-zero tariff rate had been agreed for certain strategic products, including aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, and certain generic drugs. No decision had been taken on a rate for wine and spirits, she added.

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“Today’s deal creates certainty in uncertain times, delivers stability and predictability,” von der Leyen told reporters before leaving Scotland.

EU to buy ‘significant’ US energy to replace Russian sources

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday the bloc would buy “significant” levels of energy from the United States as part of the transatlantic trade deal, replacing Russian sources.

“Purchases of US energy products will diversify our sources of supply and contribute to Europe’s energy security. We will replace Russian gas and oil by significant purchases of US LNG, oil and nuclear fuels,” she told reporters.

She said the purchases would amount to approximately $750 billion divided equally over three years.

“We want to absolutely get rid of Russian fossil fuels,” she stressed, adding it was preferable to buy “more affordable and better” liquefied natural gas from the US.

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The agreement on energy was part of a wider trade deal between the transatlantic partners to avert what could have been a full-blown trade war.

Zero-for-zero tariffs on goods including aircraft

The European Union and the United States have agreed a bilateral tariff exemption for key goods including aircraft, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday after the two sides clinched a trade deal.

“We have also agreed on zero-for-zero tariffs on a number of strategic products,” von der Leyen said following crunch talks with US President Donald Trump in Scotland. She said the products included certain chemicals, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products and critical raw materials.

Germany’s Merz welcomes EU trade deal

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday welcomed the trade deal between the United States and the European Union, which he said avoided “needless escalation in transatlantic trade relations”.

“We have thus managed to preserve our fundamental interests, even if I would have wished for more relief in transatlantic trade,” he said in a statement released soon after the deal was announced.

The agreement sets 15 percent tariffs on most exports from the European bloc. The United States is Germany’s main trading partner.

Merz said he was particularly relieved for the car industry, which before Sunday’s accord was facing tariffs of 27.5 percent.

In addition to cars, Germany’s chemical and machinery industries are particularly dependent on exports to the United States.

The Chancellor expressed his “full support” for the European Commission “for the negotiations that will now begin on the details of the agreement."

With inputs from agencies