The US-EU trade deal, clinched in a ballroom at Donald Trump\u2019s golf resort in Scotland on Sunday, has been criticised by France\u2019s prime minister and business leaders across Germany.<\/p>\n
The deal, which will impose 15% tariffs on almost all European exports to the US<\/a> including cars, ends the threat of a punitive 30% import duties being imposed on Trump\u2019s 1 August deadline for a deal, but it is a world apart from the zero-zero import and export tariff the EU offered initially.<\/p>\n It also means European exporters to the US will face more then triple the average 4.8% tariff now in force, with negotiations to continue on steel, which is still facing a 50% tariff, aviation, and a question mark over future barriers to pharmaceutical exports.<\/p>\n France\u2019s prime minister, Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou, said Europe had submitted to the US, on a \u201cdark day\u201d for the union.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, gathered to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,\u201d Bayrou posted on X.<\/p>\n Accord Van der Leyen-Trump : c’est un jour sombre que celui o\u00f9 une alliance de peuples libres, rassembl\u00e9s pour affirmer leurs valeurs et d\u00e9fendre leurs int\u00e9r\u00eats, se r\u00e9sout \u00e0 la soumission.<\/p>\n \u2014 Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou (@bayrou) July 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, rapidly hailed the deal, saying it avoided \u201cneedless escalation in transatlantic trade relations\u201d and averted a potentially damaging trade war.<\/p>\n German exporters were less enthusiastic. The powerful BDI federation of industrial groups said the accord would have \u201cconsiderable negative repercussions\u201d, while the country\u2019s VCI chemical trade association said the accord left rates \u201ctoo high\u201d.<\/p>\n It is also clear that the US tariff of 15% on automotive products will place a burden on German automotive companies in the midst of their transformation, hitting sales and profits.<\/p>\n The president of the car industry federation VDA, Hildegard M\u00fcller, said it was \u201cfundamentally positive\u201d that a framework deal was agreed but warned of huge costs to come.<\/p>\n European stock markets hit a four-month high at the start of trading on Monday, amid relief that a deal had been reached. Germany\u2019s Dax jumped by 0.86%, and France\u2019s Cac 40 index rose by 1.1%.<\/p>\n Ireland, one of the EU\u2019s top exporters to the US, said on Sunday it welcomed the deal for bringing \u201ca measure of much-needed certainty\u201d, but that it \u201cregrets\u201d the baseline tariff, in a statement by its deputy prime minister, Simon Harris.<\/p>\n France\u2019s minister for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, said on Monday that the agreement would provide \u201ctemporary stability \u2026 but it is unbalanced\u201d.<\/p>\n The German bank Berenberg said the deal brought to an end the \u201ccrippling uncertainty\u201d but said it was a victory for Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is great to have a deal. In two major respects, however, the outcome remains much worse than the situation before Trump started his new round of trade wars early this year,\u201d said Holger Schmieding, Berenberg\u2019s chief economist.<\/p>\n \u201cThe extra US tariffs will hurt both the US and the EU. For Europe, the damage is mostly frontloaded,\u201d Schmieding said in a note to clients on Monday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cThe deal is asymmetric. The US gets away with a substantial increase in its tariffs on imports from the EU and has secured further EU concessions to boot. In his apparent zero-sum mentality, Trump can claim that as a \u2018win\u2019 for him,\u201d Schmieding added.<\/p>\n The Italian bank UniCredit also said Trump had got the better out of the EU.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cIs this a good deal for the EU? Probably not. The outcome is heavily asymmetrical, and it leaves US tariffs on imported EU goods at much higher levels than EU tariffs on imports from the US,\u201d UniCredit said in a note to clients.<\/p>\n \u201cFifteen per cent is not to be underestimated, but it is the best we could get,\u201d the European Commision president, Ursula von der Leyen, acknowledged.<\/p>\n Initially the EU had tried to hardball the US by threatening but pausing \u20ac21bn (\u00a318bn) worth of retaliatory measures in April, and adding another list of \u20ac73bn-worth of US imports that would be taxed earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n