Trump had previously spoken to reporters in the White House of a “50 to 50 chance, maybe even less”, to achieve an agreement with the EU. In its part, the EU Commission declared on Thursday that an agreement was “within reach”.
Media reports and information from diplomatic circles had also emerged in the past few days that there were progress in the negotiations between Brussels and Washington. According to several diplomats, US import tariffs of 15 percent and numerous exceptions could be the result of the negotiations. So far, however, it has remained largely unclear what the EU customs level would look like.
Trump had sparked a customs conflict with trading partners all over the world at the beginning of April. He announced high imports for the EU and numerous countries – but later lowered them to ten percent to lead negotiations. So far, medication and pharmaceutical products have been excluded. An increased customs set of 25 percent applies to cars, and surcharges of 50 percent are due for steel and aluminum products.
