Brussels, 29.07.2025

Key Points:

• The EU must prepare for more turbulence with the US, in a world where deals can be undone with one tweet, the EU needs to move towards a European federation and finally speak with a unified voice.
• The European Union and the United-States have reached an imbalanced trade deal to avoid the 30% tariff threat of Donal Trump, with 15% tariffs on imports of European goods, alongside other EU concessions.
• The EU-US trade deal is less favourable than the one struck between the EU and the US, despite the EU being one of the biggest trade areas in the world, as the lack of unity of the Member States during the negotiation weakened the European Commission’s negotiating position.

This weekend, Ursula Von der Leyen and Donald Trump agreed on a EU-US trade deal with 15% tariffs on imports of European goods and averted the 30% tariffs that would have gone into effect on 1 August. In this EU-US  trade deal, the Commission agreed to purchase $750 billion worth of energy from the US as well as invest $600 billion (which the EU can’t guarantee)  further down the line. Other sectors, like the steel and aluminium industry amongst others are subject to a different set of tariffs and the US even gets a zero-for-zero tariffs on several goods such as components for aircrafts, agricultural goods, critical raw materials and chemicals.

 

While we welcome that a full on trade-war was avoided, we remain sceptical about this deal on several grounds: This EU-US trade deal is less favourable than the one the US struck with the UK in terms of the tariff percentage. We fear that this will lead to a renewed division on the island of Ireland by having these two different tariff rates. 

 

Unfortunately, Donald Trump has a track record of walking back on agreed upon deals without or little warning, making it likely that this agreement will be altered in the future, making Europe even more dependent on his mood swings.

 

Furthermore, it is frustrating to see that the EU, as one of the largest global economies, sold itself short during the negotiations and accepted an unbalanced agreement instead of being united in its approach and position towards the US. First, Member States were disunited over a potential tariff retaliation package, and now, they cannot agree on a unified assessment of this EU-US trade deal, further weakening EU’s position in possible future negotiations.

 

As the US is shifting away from the free world and core principles of democracy and rule of law for cheap gains, “deals” and pressure on other countries, a united EU is more important than ever. While the EU must enter the deal in good faith, we must not be naïve: we have to continue to be ready to protect our economy from US protectionism and prepare for the US president’s mood swings by building global trade relations with other parts of the world as well as continue supporting global level rules-based trade system.

 

“ This deal is the result of a fragmented Europe – only a federal and united Europe can be a confident, unified actor that speaks with one unified voice on the political world stage and defends the interests and values of its citizens!” declared Kati Systä, Executive Board Member of JEF Europe.

 

About JEF Europe
The Young European Federalists (JEF Europe) is a political youth NGO advocating for the creation of a democratic European federation as a guarantee for peace, the rule of law, and human rights. JEF Europe promotes true European citizenship, works for the widening and deepening of the European Union, and strives for a more just and integrated society on the European continent. Established in 1972, the organisation has more than 10,000 activists organised in over 300 national, regional, and local sections in 37 countries. 

Read more:

– JEF  Resolution Reimagining the partnership with the US – JEF Europe

Contacts:

Kati SYSTÄ

Executive Board Member

Young European Federalists (JEF Europe)

kati.systa@jef.eu