Trump’s Trade Deal to Cost EU For Years to Come

From the European perspective, the best that can be said of the new EU–U.S. trade deal is that it could have been worse.

The agreement effectively ends 80 years of steady progress toward lowering transatlantic trade barriers and deepening economic ties. (Photo: Daniel Torok, The White House Flickr)

President Donald Trump had threatened to impose a 30% tariff on almost all European imports starting August 1. Instead, the final deal settles on a 15% tariff — Simon Nixon reported for Bloomberg Weekend.

That rate, while steep, is in line with the tariffs the U.S. is imposing on other trading partners, so it may not inflict a major competitive disadvantage. Still, there’s no sugarcoating it: This is a bad deal for Europe.

The agreement effectively ends 80 years of steady progress toward lowering transatlantic trade barriers and deepening economic ties. History suggests it could take years — even decades — for the pendulum to swing back toward free trade.

More worrying is the political fallout. The EU’s apparent capitulation has shaken confidence in Brussels and may fuel public skepticism toward integration and free trade.

Far-right populist parties across Europe are already pointing to the deal as evidence that EU institutions are too weak to protect national interests. And in future negotiations, the perception that the EU is a pushover could further undermine its leverage.

Long after the tariffs are absorbed into market calculus, the sting of strategic humiliation may remain.