President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appear to differ on some key details in their new trade agreement, underscoring the difficulty they may have in turning this deal into a reality.
The European Union said it would accept a 15% tariff on nearly all its exports to the U.S. Trump told reporters that the bloc also agreed to open up its “countries to trade at zero tariff.”
After he met with von der Leyen July 27, Trump said that the deal would not include pharmaceuticals, a contentious point in the negotiations, seeming to imply they would be subject to a higher tariff.
In a separate news conference, von der Leyen said, “The EU agreed we have 15% for pharmaceuticals.” But she added, “Whatever decisions later – by the president of the U.S. – that’s on a different sheet of paper.”
Senior U.S. officials later said that the two sides agreed on a 15% tariff level for the EU’s pharmaceutical exports. A separate Section 232 probe on pharmaceuticals is still coming over the next three weeks, but the EU tariff level will remain at 15%, the officials added.
The U.S. has initiated investigations into whether the import of certain products, such as aerospace and semiconductors, poses a national security threat to the country. This could lead to separate tariffs on some sectors.
