President Trump and European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen both put the odds of reaching a trade deal at 50% ahead of their negotiations Sunday, but remained hopeful an agreement could be finalized.
“I think the President is right, we have a 50 to 50% chance to strike a deal. And indeed it is about rebalancing,” she told reporters in the DJT Ballroom at Trump Turnberry off the west coast of Scotland.
Trump has given the EU an Aug. 1 deadline to ink a new trade deal with him or else face 30% tariffs. The EU is a block of 27 trade countries, which, taken together, traded about $1.68 trillion worth of goods with the US last year.
“This is the biggest deal. People don’t realize this is bigger than any other deal,” Trump stressed ahead of his talks with the EU president.
The president also noted that while a deal with the EU will address most outstanding trade-related issues, “pharmaceuticals won’t be part of it, because we have to have them made in the United States.”
Trump teased that he would know after about an hour whether or not a deal with the EU is possible before the Aug. 1 deadline and revealed that there are about 3 to 4 sticking points, but didn’t detail specifics of what those issues are.
He also aired his general grievances with European trade practices, particularly with automobiles and agriculture, though it wasn’t clear if those were among the sticking points.
“We don’t sell cars into Europe. We don’t sell, essentially, agriculture of any great degree. They want to have their farmers do it, and they want to have their car companies do it,” he said.
“I’m not saying anything that nobody knows. We have a rough situation. If we want to sell cars in Europe, we’re not allowed to. And as you know, they sell millions and millions of cars [into the US],” he added. “What we want to do is make everybody happy.”
Von der Leyen, who flew to Scotland during Trump’s four-day trip to the United Kingdom to meet with the American president, buttered him up “as a tough negotiator and dealmaker.”
“And fair,” Trump interjected.
Trump emphasized during his gaggle with reporters that he has no intention of delaying the Aug. 1 deadline before his customized “Liberation Day” tariffs take effect. The president previously moved that deadline twice.
Rumors have swirled that Trump is eyeing a 15% baseline tariff on the EU, which would effectively cut his “Liberation Day” proposal in half.
Many Europeans have hoped he would drop that to the 10% baseline he has imposed on virtually all US imports — which is also the same rate he gave the United Kingdom during the tariff deal announced in May.
“Better meaning lower?” Trump replied when a reporter asked him if he could do better than 15%. “No.”
So far, Trump has cut tariff deals with the UK, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The president teased that his team recently locked down another deal, but didn’t specify which country.
He also has a variety of tariffs in place now, such as a 25% rate on automobiles, aluminum, and steel, as well as 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico that don’t comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He’s also recently mused about jacking up tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Trump has also reached a tariff truce with China and given Beijing an Aug. 12 deadline to cut a broader deal.
Earlier this month, he gave Moscow an ultimatum to cut a peace deal with neighboring Ukraine within 50 days or else face 100% secondary tariffs on Russian energy — meaning levies imposed on countries that import from Russia.
