(Bloomberg) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet President Donald Trump on Sunday in a bid to reach a trade agreement ahead of Friday\u2019s deadline, at which point 30% tariffs on the bloc\u2019s exports to the US are otherwise due to kick in.<\/p>\n
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The stakes for the talks, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. local time at Trump\u2019s golf resort in Turnberry, western Scotland, could hardly be higher for von der Leyen. Yet after months of talks and shuttle diplomacy, finalizing a deal hinges mostly on Trump.<\/p>\n
EU ambassadors, who\u2019ve been on a visit to Greenland this weekend, are expected to be briefed ahead of the meeting. EU officials have repeatedly cautioned that an agreement ultimately rests with Trump, making the outcome hard to predict. The US president recently negotiated with Japan and appeared to change certain final terms on the fly before an agreement was eventually agreed upon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntensive negotiations at technical and political have been ongoing,\u201d said Paula Pinho, the commission president\u2019s spokesperson. \u201cLeaders will now take stock and consider the scope for a balanced outcome that provides stability and predictability for businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EU and US have been zeroing in on an agreement that would see the EU face 15% tariffs on most of its trade with the US. Limited exemptions are expected for aviation, some medical devices and generic medicines, several spirits, and a specific set of manufacturing equipment that the US needs, Bloomberg previously reported.<\/p>\n
Steel and aluminum imports would likely benefit from a quota under the arrangements under discussion, but above that threshold they would face a higher tariff of 50%.<\/p>\n
Alongside a universal levy, the US president has hit cars and auto parts with a 25% levy, and steel and aluminum with double that. He\u2019s also threatened to target pharmaceuticals and semiconductors with new duties as early as next month, and recently announced a 50% tariff on copper.<\/p>\n
The EU is expecting the same 15% ceiling on some sectors that could be the target of future tariffs, including pharmaceuticals, according to people familiar with the matter. But that\u2019s one of the key points where Trump\u2019s position will be crucial to a deal being sealed, the people added.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019ll see if we make a deal,\u201d Trump said as he arrived in Scotland on Friday. \u201cUrsula will be here, highly respected woman. So we look forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump reiterated that he believed there\u2019s \u201ca 50-50 chance\u201d of a deal with the EU, saying there were sticking points on \u201cmaybe 20 different things\u201d that he didn\u2019t want to detail publicly.<\/p>\n
Trump gave similar chances of an agreement before leaving Washington, but also said the EU had a \u201cpretty good chance\u201d of reaching a deal.<\/p>\n
The US president announced tariffs on almost all US trading partners in April, declaring his intent to bring back domestic manufacturing, pay for a massive tax-cut extension, and stop the rest of the world from \u2014 as Trump has characterized it \u2014 taking advantage of the US.<\/p>\n
In addition to levies, any agreement would cover non-tariff barriers, cooperation on economic security matters, and strategic purchases by the EU in sectors such as energy and artificial intelligence chips, Bloomberg previously reported. The bloc has also offered to remove tariffs on many industrial goods and non-sensitive agricultural imports.<\/p>\n
The terms of any initial deal, which is likely to take the form of a short joint statement if agreed upon, would need to be approved by member states, some of the people said. And a statement would be seen as a stepping stone toward more detailed talks.<\/p>\n
Because of the ongoing uncertainty, the EU has in parallel sketched out countermeasures in the event of a no-deal scenario. That would see it quickly hit American exports with up to 30% tariffs on some \u20ac100 billion ($117 billion) worth of goods \u2014 including Boeing Co. aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon whiskey \u2014 in the event of no deal is reached, or if Trump carries through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc\u2019s exports after Aug. 1 or in future. The package also includes some export restrictions on scrap metals.<\/p>\n
Absent a deal, the bloc is also prepared to move forward with its anti-coercion instrument, a potent tool that would eventually allow it to target other areas such as market access, services and restrictions on public contracts, provided a majority of member states backs its use.<\/p>\n
While Trump didn\u2019t explicitly link negotiations to non-trade matters on Friday, he suggested that he planned to raise concerns over migration flows. Trump has imposed strict anti-immigration policies since returning to office, carrying out a mass deportation effort of those in the US illegally while also narrowing pathways to legally move to the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got to stop this horrible invasion that\u2019s happening to Europe, many countries in Europe,\u201d Trump said, adding that he believed \u201cimmigration is killing Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Josh Wingrove.<\/p>\n
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\u00a92025 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Bloomberg) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet President Donald Trump on Sunday in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[3662,32,15518,49,1220,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-295661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-bloomberg","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-trade-agreement","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}