Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe EU secured a favorable trade deal with the US, providing an edge for EU businesses despite criticism over tariffs. The deal ensures stability in EU-US relations.
STRASBOURG (Reuters) -The European Union got the best trade deal available with the United States and secured EU businesses an advantage over many foreign rivals, the head of the European Commission said on Wednesday.
"We ensured that Europe got the best possible deal out there. We have put our companies at a relative advantage. Because some of our direct competitors face much higher US tariffs," Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament.
Several lawmakers have criticised the deal, under which the EU will lower its duties, while the United States sets a broad 15% tariff on EU goods. The parliament will vote in the coming months on the Commission's proposal to remove EU duties on U.S. industrial goods.
Von der Leyen said that some competitors had secured lower U.S. baseline tariffs than the 15% the bloc is facing, but the EU had ensured that pre-existing duties were not added on top, unlike most rivals.
The Commission president said the EU exported 500 billion euros ($585.20 billion) of goods to the United States each year, on which millions of jobs depended.
"The deal provides crucial stability in our relations with the US at a time of grave global insecurity. Think of the repercussions of a full-fledged trade war with the U.S. Picture the chaos," she said.
($1 = 0.8544 euros)
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, writing by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)
The European Union secured the best possible trade deal with the United States, providing EU businesses an advantage over many foreign rivals.
Under the deal, the EU will lower its duties while the United States imposes a broad 15% tariff on EU goods.
The EU exports approximately 500 billion euros ($585.20 billion) of goods to the United States each year.
Several lawmakers criticized the deal, noting that some competitors have secured lower U.S. baseline tariffs than the 15% the EU is facing.
The deal is seen as providing crucial stability in EU-US relations during a time of global insecurity, helping to avoid the chaos of a full-fledged trade war.
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