EU and US reach agreement in tariff dispute

The United States and the European Union have agreed to a 15 percent tariff on goods imports from the EU to the United States in their trade agreement. US President Donald Trump announced this after talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. It was already clear in advance that imports from the EU to the United States would be subject to significantly higher tariffs than before Trump began his second term.

Last week, EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic traveled to Washington, D.C., for personal talks with US President Donald Trump's team. The aim of the talks was to prevent the US from imposing a 30 percent tariff on imports from the EU starting August 1. The EU Commission, according to its own statements, had been committed to a negotiated solution until the very end.

Trump had previously announced a similar course of action in the event that the EU did not make sufficient concessions. The Republican is primarily demanding measures to correct the current US trade deficit with the EU. These could include tariff reductions on US exports to the EU, but also relocation of production to the US.

At one point, Trump even threatened the EU with 50 percent tariffs . The EU feared drastic repercussions for transatlantic trade. Currently, the base tariff is 10 percent on almost all imports to the US. In addition, special tariffs apply to certain products, such as steel and aluminum (50 percent) and car imports. The steel and aluminum tariffs will remain unchanged under the current agreement, Trump said.

Originally, an agreement between the EU and the US was supposed to be reached by July 9. Trump wanted to have negotiated a deal with the EU Commission by then. He then extended the deadline again to August 1.