Customs duties: the gray areas left by the agreement between Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump

Donald Trump welcomed his guests to his Scottish estate in Turnberry on Sunday, July 27, without a written brief, unlike the European delegation, each of whose members had documents ready for consultation. Once the matter was settled, the American president read a simple loose sheet of paper in large print to the press, which he then folded in four and placed in the inside pocket of his jacket. No written record of this arrangement was made available to journalists or the general public.

The main parameters were revealed orally by the two leaders: the majority of European exports to the United States will be taxed at 15% , with a few exceptions; the Europeans also say they want to buy enormous quantities of American energy goods and invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States.

This approach is consistent with the practice established by Donald Trump. None of the "deals" triumphantly concluded by the former American businessman with third countries, including the United Kingdom and Japan, have been legally implemented to date. Most often, it is necessary to make do with promises made aloud, far from the ordinary forms of a trade agreement.

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