The U.S. and European Union have simply weeks to succeed in a brand new commerce deal earlier than President Trump plans to impose a 30% tariff on most imports from the 27 EU member international locations beginning Aug. 1.
The EU negotiates commerce coverage as a single entity and was the U.S.’s high items buying and selling accomplice in 2024, in keeping with U.S. Census Bureau knowledge. In 2024, the U.S. imported round $606 billion in items from the EU and exported round $370 billion value of merchandise to it.
EU leaders have warned they’re ready to impose larger tariffs on a whole bunch of U.S. imports until a deal could be reached within the coming weeks. Economists say the dispute might drive up shopper costs on either side of the Atlantic.
Mr. Trump has defended tariffs as needed to guard American employees, pointing to the commerce imbalance on items and better EU tariffs as proof the bloc has handled the usunfairly for years.
The president has additionally repeatedly stated the European Union doesn’t purchase American automobiles or agricultural merchandise. Nevertheless, commerce knowledge from 2024 reveals that’s inaccurate. Whereas the U.S. has imported extra automobiles and agricultural merchandise from Europe in recent times than it exports there, the EU stays a major marketplace for these American merchandise.
Right here’s a breakdown of the information.
EU is the U.S.’s fourth largest purchaser of agricultural merchandise
President Trump has repeatedly recommended Europe doesn’t purchase agricultural items from U.S. farmers and producers.
“The European Union is, in many ways, nastier than China, OK?,” President Trump stated at an occasion Could 12. “They sell us their agricultural products. We sell them virtually none. They don’t take our products.”
However in keeping with the U.S. Division of Agriculture, the EU was the fourth-largest purchaser of American agricultural merchandise in 2024, buying a document $12.8 billion in these items. High exports to the EU included oilseeds like sunflower and sesame seeds, nuts and processed nut merchandise like peanut butter, and soybeans.
By comparability, the U.S. imported $36 billion in agricultural merchandise from the EU in 2024 — shopping for billions of {dollars} value of European wine, animal merchandise, and grains and feeds.
The White Home has not responded to a request for clarification on the president’s declare.
Earlier than Mr. Trump raised tariffs to a baseline of 10% in April, the EU maintained a better common tariff on international agricultural merchandise than the USA. In 2023, the EU common tariff on international agricultural items was 10.8%, in comparison with the U.S. fee of 5%.
Sure American meals merchandise are additionally much less obtainable in Europe due to shopper preferences and rules, because the EU bans some American meals merchandise that comprise sure components they’ve deemed unsafe for human consumption.
EU buys greater than 160,000 American autos every year
One other frequent goal of President Trump’s criticism is the EU’s commerce imbalance on automobiles.
“They sell us 13 million cars. We sell them none,” Mr. Trump claimed at an occasion in Could.
It’s true that the USA imports much more European autos than the variety of American-made autos it exports to the EU, however the EU does purchase some American automobiles.
In 2024, the EU imported about 165,000 American autos, valued at roughly $8.8 billion at present change charges, in keeping with a report by the European Vehicle Producers’ Affiliation. By comparability, the identical knowledge reveals the U.S. imported about 750,000 autos from the EU in 2024, value $43 billion.
Each buying and selling companions have lengthy imposed tariffs on international autos. The EU prices a ten% tariff on U.S. passenger automobiles, whereas the U.S. charged 2.5% on EU passenger automobiles till Mr. Trump raised the tariff on all international autos to 25%. The U.S. has additionally maintained a 25% tariff on EU pickup vehicles because the Sixties.
Aside from tariffs, business analysts say U.S. automobiles are much less aggressive within the EU marketplace for a lot of different causes, together with that the member nations are inclined to have larger gasoline economic system requirements, larger gasoline prices, and their patrons are inclined to desire smaller automobiles.
Different main merchandise embrace prescription drugs and crude oil
Although Mr. Trump typically focuses on automobiles, they’re not the most important sector. Organic merchandise and drugs are literally the highest commodities the U.S. imports from the EU, in keeping with knowledge from the U.S. Census Bureau. That is pushed partly by some American pharmaceutical firms sustaining manufacturing services in EU international locations with decrease company tax charges like Eire.
In latest weeks, President Trump has floated tariff charges as excessive as 200% on foreign-made prescription drugs until firms onshore manufacturing to the U.S.
On the export aspect, the highest U.S. exports to the EU embrace oil and pure gasoline, airplanes, and immunological merchandise like blood plasma.
Over the weekend, European Fee chief Ursula von der Leyen stated the EU nonetheless hopes to succeed in a brand new settlement with the U.S.
“We have always been clear that we prefer a negotiated solution,” von der Leyen stated, including, “We will continue to prepare countermeasures so we are fully prepared.”
Rachel Gold
contributed to this report.
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