EU and the U.S. Strike Trade Deal Described as Political Coup for Trump and a ‘Dark Day’ for Europe

After months of tense negotiations, U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have reached a trade deal that will set a 15% U.S. tariff on most goods imported from the 27 EU member states.

But not everyone is happy with the outcome. French Prime Minister, Francois Bayrou, slammed the pact on social media with a post saying, “It’s a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission.”

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While it’s half the 30% tax rate Trump had threatened to implement starting on Aug. 1, the deal – which was signed on Sunday at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland — has been described in most European media as a defeat for Brussels and a political coup for the U.S. President. The latter managed to impose a tariff that’s about three times higher than the previous rate of 4.8% on European goods, and did so without facing retaliatory countermeasures from the EU, such as a digital service tax on streamers such as Netflix, and also got the EU to commit to buying $750 billion of American oil and gas over three years, according to France 24.

Von der Leyen, however, has hailed the deal and said it would “bring stability for both allies, who together account for almost a third of global trade,” according to the BBC. Details of the agreement will be fleshed out in the coming days, she also said.

The U.S. represents the EU’s biggest export market, repping 20.6% of EU exports in goods in 2024, according to Reuters.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called the agreement a positive development.

“I think it’s positive that there’s an agreement,” Meloni, who had previously criticized Trump’s tariff drive, told reporters on Sunday. A view that contrasts with widespread alarm expressed by Italian business leaders over the deal’s terms.

Over in France, where the luxury industry, including groups such as LVMH, Kering and Chanel, depends heavily on U.S. business, the agreement has been harshly criticized. Along with Bayrou, European Affairs Minister, Benjamin Haddad, also called the deal “unbalanced,” even if he’s confident certain key business sectors such as alcohol (which rep 9% of E.U. exports in the U.S.) will receive exemptions.

“The trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the United States will bring temporary stability to economic actors threatened by the escalation of American tariffs, but it is unbalanced,” wrote Haddad on X.

Haddad also suggested the EU should use its crucial position with regards to U.S. streaming service as leverage in future transatlantic negotiations.

“In the short term, we must fight to continue seeking trade balance with the United States. We are importers of American digital services that continue to benefit from tax breaks in Europe,” he wrote on X. “The activation of the European anti-coercion instrument must remedy this situation by taxing digital services or excluding them from markets.”

Nick Vivarelli contributed to this report