EU-US tariff deal draws mixed reaction with French calling it 'submission'

Agreement 'better than trade war with the US', says EU trade chief

The EU and US agreed on a trade deal that would place a 15 per cent tariff on the bloc's exports. Getty Images

US President Donald Trump's tariff deal with the European Union drew mixed reviews from the bloc's leaders, with some criticising the agreement that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck.

As part of the deal, the EU will pay a 15 per cent tariff on most goods, including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. The rate is half of what Mr Trump had previously threatened to impose on imports from the bloc.

The EU also agreed to purchase billions of dollars worth of US energy and weapons as part of the deal which also involves no tariffs on US exports to Europe.

The EU defended the deal on Monday. “I'm 100 per cent sure that this deal is better than a trade war with the United States,” Reuters reported EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic as saying. Ms von der Leyen said it was the “best we could get”.

Other leaders across the bloc, however, were less enthusiastic. “It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou wrote on X.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has a close relationship with Mr Trump, said the EU Commissioner did not stand a chance against the US President.

“It wasn’t a deal that President Donald Trump made with Ursula von der Leyen. It was Donald Trump eating Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast,” he said on his podcast.

The agreement was the latest announced by Washington in Mr Trump's attempts to reset the country's trade relations with its partners.

As well as Japan, he announced deals with the UK and Vietnam, and has agreed to a truce with China under which the two economic powers will drastically lower tariffs on each other while negotiations continue.

The EU-US agreement was similar to the one Mr Trump made with Japan, in which he set his so-called reciprocal tariffs at 15 per cent.

Military dimensions

"That was the template for this deal but that does not completely explain why the EU had to sign this deal,” Simon J Evenett, professor at IMD Business School in Lausanne, told The National.

“The principal reason the EU had to sign this deal is because of the continued US military support for Ukraine. That is the geopolitical overlay which created the imperative for the EU signing this deal.

"Halving the tariff rate on the bloc would be an obvious attractive proposition for EU exporters, but we should be under no illusion about the importance of the military dimension here.”

Together, the EU and US represent about 30 per cent of global trade in goods and services and 43 per cent of global gross domestic product, according to figures from the European Council and the Council of the EU.

The EU and US trade in goods last year was valued at €867 billion ($1.01 trillion), with total transatlantic trade in goods and services valued at more than €1.68 trillion, the councils said.

Leaders from Sweden and Denmark joined Mr Orban and Mr Bayrou in expressing disappointment with the agreement. Sweden's Minister for Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa noted that the deal would bring the highest tariff rate on Europe in nearly eight decades.

“The agreement doesn't make anyone richer but it may be the least bad option," he said on X. "Increased tariffs are primarily paid by the country's own citizens, which is why most wealthy countries have lowered tariffs against the rest of the world over the past 100 years."

Some members of the bloc, however, defended the deal for bringing some clarity to the trade tension between the US and EU.

“This agreement has succeeded in averting a trade conflict that would have hit the export-orientated German economy hard,” Reuters quoted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as saying.

Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also said the agreement brings “much-needed predictability” to Finnish companies and the world economy.

“Work must continue to dismantle trade barriers. Only free transatlantic trade benefits both sides the most,” he wrote.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who also has a friendly relationship with Mr Trump, said she considers it “positive that there is an agreement”.

“But if I don't see the details I am not able to judge it in the best way,” she said.