Von der Leyen says ‘deliberate’ deal with Trump avoided trade war

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen publicly defended the EU-US trade deal she negotiated with Donald Trump, calling it a “deliberate” move to prevent a full-out trade war in an op-ed for the Spanish daily El Mundo.  

Von der Leyen contended that geopolitical rivals in Beijing and Moscow would have celebrated such a trade conflict, and that the deal cut by the EU with Trump was a better outcome.

“This agreement reflects a deliberate choice: stability and predictability over escalation and confrontation,” she wrote. 

On Friday, a joint statement revealed the full details of the trade deal, which von der Leyen said set “very clear” 15% flat tariffs on almost all EU products – including cars and pharmaceuticals – while exempting generics and aircraft components.

The EU chief continued to acknowledge that the deal “isn’t perfect” but defended it as a “solid” outcome, as the EU is the only world player to have secured a single capped rate, as opposed to layered tariffs.

Looking ahead, she said the bloc would be strengthening and diversifying trade ties with other countries, such as Switzerland, Mexico, the United Kingdom and through the new trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries.

The Commission has drawn strong criticism for the deal, most recently from Mario Draghi, the former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank president who has played a major advisory role for von der Leyen.

In a speech on Friday, Draghi said that this year will be remembered as the year that the “illusion” of the EU as a global player will have “evaporated”.  

“We had to resign ourselves to the tariffs imposed by our biggest trading partner and long-standing ally, the United States,” he said.

(bts)