One thing was crystal clear about a vague trade deal announced Sunday by President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: a tariff rate of 15% on European goods.
It’s the latest example of a new tariff floor for Trump that has been backed by other recent deals and letters, including one with Japan this past week that also saw a 15% rate.
“We’ll have a straight simple tariff of anywhere between 15% and 50%,” Trump asserted.
Both Trump and von der Leyen highlighted the 15% rate Sunday after their meeting in Scotland. Trump claimed a “straight-across tariff of 15%” for “automobiles and everything else,” adding that US exports to Europe would face a 0% rate.
Von der Leyen confirmed the 15% tariffs “across the board and inclusive,” adding that it would bring stability and predictability to US-Europe relations.
Trump added that the deal includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new EU purchases of U.S. energy as well as military equipment.
The 15% rate may get a mixed reaction in Europe after negotiators had previously pushed for free trade (or more recently a 10% rate), but it’s a halving from the 30% tariffs Trump promised in a letter earlier this month.
Sunday’s agreement with the European Union — America’s largest trading partner — comes following agreements with Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia with saw tariff rates of between 19% and 20%.
Only one negotiation has seen Trump agree to a tariff below 15% — a pact with the UK in May — with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent writing earlier this month that “usually the first person who makes a deal makes the best deal.”
Trump also said Sunday that many of the remaining countries facing a deadline of Aug. 1 would face a letter dictating rates, saying they would be be “very universal for most” and that the European deal is “the big one.”
The president said three to four additional countries could be in for deals in the coming days while most nations would simply get letters.
In any case, the 15% baseline is a shift — even from recent weeks.
Trump earlier this month said that many countries would see a rate of “probably 10% or 15%, we haven’t decided yet.” Even last Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS: “You should assume that the small countries… will have a baseline tariff of 10%.”
This new standard is also notable fulfillment of an oft-made campaign trail promise that saw the then-candidate pledge to create a “ring around the collar” of the US economy with a blanket rate of between 10% and 20%.
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