U.S. President Donald Trump and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland, July 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The U.S. and European Union took the first step to formalize their trade deal on Thursday, releasing a framework that eventually paves the way to a legally-enforceable agreement.
The U.S. and the 27-member bloc of the E.U. announced a trade deal last month that establishes a 15% tariff on most European products imported by the United States. The E.U. is the largest U.S. trade partner with trade between them totaling $1.5 trillion last year, per federal data.
European automakers, though, will have to grapple with a higher 27.5% duty. That's an existing import tax that won't be scaled back until the E.U. relaxes other tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods from the U.S.
E.U. pharmaceutical companies are likely breathing a sigh of relief, as the framework locks in a 15% tariff for U.S. imports and averts higher duties. President Donald Trump has teased a supersized tariff of up to 200% on pharmaceutical products that would gradually kick in. It's not clear when that could be rolled out.
Under the deal, the E.U. has also committed to purchasing $750 billion worth of U.S. natural gas and oil through 2028, along with $40 billion worth of U.S.-produced semiconductors.
One possible future source of contention is a proposed investment fund that the Trump administration has strongly sought from the E.U., in addition to other trade partners. The current framework says that European companies are "expected to invest" $600 billion in the U.S., even though the E.U. has no mechanism to compel that enormous amount of private-sector spending.
Still, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the E.U. commission, praised the agreement as one that establishes predictability, stability, and security for the E.U. "This EU-US trade deal delivers for our citizens & companies, and strengthens transatlantic relations," she said in a social media post.
