US President Donald Trump gestures to the press at the end of a reception with Republican members of Congress at the White House in Washington, DC on July 22, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | Getty Images
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. has reached a trade deal with the European Union, following a pivotal discussion with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen days before the Aug. 1 tariff deadline.
“It’s a very powerful deal, it’s a very big deal, it’s the biggest of all the deals,” Trump said.
During a press conference before their meeting, the two leaders said that there was a 50-50 chance they would reach a framework of a deal.
“I’d like to make a deal, I think it’s good for both, but I’d say “50-50,” Trump told reporters on Sunday during a press conference in Scotland, alongside von der Leyen.
Trump said during the same press conference before the meeting that he had “three or four sticking points,” without disclosing specific details on his concerns.
The Sunday meeting marked a pivotal moment for Trump, as the 27-member bloc is the U.S.’s largest trading partner.
“This is the biggest deal, people don’t realize,” Trump said Sunday.
The announcement comes after Trump, in a letter earlier this month, said the EU would face duties of 30% on exports to the U.S. as part of his “reciprocal tariffs.” That rate was widely seen as a level that would be detrimental to businesses and the economies of both the U.S. and EU nations.
In response to Trump’s letter, the EU said it was preparing to impose countermeasures if necessary, while maintaining that it worked towards a negotiated solution.
The bloc eyed retaliatory duties on a wide range of U.S. goods, and other measures, like the EU’s “Anti-Coercion Instrument.”
Brussels was seeking to negotiate exemptions or lower rates for certain key industries that had been particularly hard hit by sectoral tariffs. In exchange, the EU was widely expected to accept some level of blanket tariffs.
The U.S.-EU trade relationship was valued at 1.68 trillion euros ($1.97 trillion) when taking into account both services and goods trading in 2024, according to the European Council.
While the EU recorded a surplus on goods trading, it noted a deficit in the services realm. This left the EU with an overall trade surplus of around 50 billion euros with the U.S. last year.
This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates.
