TURNBERRY, Scotland: The US struck a framework trade agreement with the European Union on Sunday, imposing a 15 percent import tariff on most EU goods — half the threatened rate — and averting a bigger trade war between the two allies that account for almost a third of global trade.
US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal at Trump’s luxury golf course in western Scotland after an hour-long meeting that pushed the hard-fought deal over the line.
“I think this is the biggest deal ever made,” Trump told reporters, lauding EU plans to invest some $600 billion in the United States and dramatically increase its purchases of US energy and military equipment.
Trump said the deal, which tops a $550 billion deal signed with Japan last week, would expand ties between the trans-Atlantic powers after years of what he called unfair treatment of US exporters.
Von der Leyen, describing Trump as a tough negotiator, said the 15 percent tariff applied “across the board,” later telling reporters it was “the best we could get.”
