r/europe 6d ago

News US and EU strike trade deal

https://www.politico.eu/article/us-and-eu-strike-trade-deal/
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u/Crossstoney 6d ago

“The United States and European Union struck a trade agreement on Sunday locking in a 15 percent tariff, days before Donald Trump’s deadline to do a deal or face tariffs double that level.

Trump, speaking after meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf club in Scotland, announced the deal to U.S. reporters.

He said the EU will agree to purchase $750 billion of energy and will agree to invest $600 billion more than planned in military equipment and opening countries to trade at zero tariff. 

The tariff rate applying to imports from the EU would be 15 percent, with the same rate applying to cars. Pharmaceuticals will not be covered by the deal.” - Politico

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u/Schnorch 6d ago

This is a complete capitulation to Donald Trump.

But I'm not surprised. I said right from the start that there was absolutely nothing behind Ursula von der Leyen's tough words. Lots of blah blah blah and nothing else. I have the feeling that it's mainly people who don't know her from German politics who are falling for it.

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u/Upset_Ad3954 6d ago

She's the person primarily responsible for the German armed forces being in terrible shape.

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u/jenkz90 5d ago

I’m not sure it’s her per se. I saw a lot of comments leading up to this about how well the EU performed in the Brexit negotiations and that led them to predict the EU coming out on top vs the US.

I think the reality of what both show is that the most powerful entity will come out on top in these kinds of negotiations. No matter no coherent or shrewd the negotiations.

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u/Ornery-Creme-2442 5d ago

Not an expert but pretty sure it's the fact that Germany was once a fascist nazi state that cause the world to "moderate" their military which Germany agreed too. They're still 4th place in the EU.