After weeks of intense negotiations between their senior commercial officials, The European Union and the US finally ended up in a trade agreementon the eve of the last round of duties between the US and China. In the end, the US president had to meet Donald Trump and the president of the Commission Ursula von der Layen to reach the Sunday agreement.

This is something we have seen in other agreements that Donald Trump has concluded, as the BBC notes in his analysis. It is his personal involvement that brought the agreement, even when the prospects for a significant progress did not seem to be auspicious. This is important for both sides, as many businesses and jobs depend on what the EU calls “the largest bilateral commercial and investment relationship in the world”.

The Trump government celebrates it as a great victory and it is in many ways. But it is not a complete defeat for Ursula von der Laien. “All the European press praises the president right now, impressed by the deal he has negotiated on behalf of the Americans,” said US vice -president Jay Di Vance via a post on X. “Tomorrow the US media will only be published by 99%”.

The consolation is that the EU will be confronted by a 15% duty of the US, instead of the 30% threat that had preceded it. However, it is still a significant decline, as the rate is much higher than before the so -called “Day of Liberation” of Trump in April and is not as good as 10% of the United Kingdom.

Brussels can point out the fact that the lowest rate will be applied to many major European exports, including pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. This also means that EU car manufacturers will face a 15% duty, instead of the 25% global duty in early April.

But in return, the EU “opens countries with zero duties” to US exports, Trump said. EU steel and aluminum will also continue to be subject to a 50% duty when sold to the US.

The EU spent weeks trying to present itself as a harsh negotiator as it was preparing retaliation for tariff measures, threatening to proceed with their implementation. The measures that the EU threatened to impose would strike US products worth 100 billion euros to the EU.

In May, a 217 -page list was published with products that could be a target, including everything, from aircraft spare parts to whiskey.

However, at the start of the negotiations, Brussels faced significant challenges in the negotiating position. The situation was not at all ideal for risking a trade war with the world’s largest economy.

Europe’s economic growth has been sluggish for some time and just last week the European Central Bank warned that “the environment remains extremely uncertain, especially because of trade disputes”. This agreement eliminates part of this uncertainty and, in the end, the Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of the 27 EU Member States, has decided that it was worth it, even if the 15% of Trump duties end up reducing the volume of trade because they export to the US.

Europe also depends largely on the US for its security. At the back of the Brussels negotiating team there would be concerns that Trump could possibly stop the supply of weapons to Ukraine, withdraw the US army from the area or even leave NATO.

For Trump, who is still celebrating the agreement he achieved with Japan last week, the announcement marks another major victory.

The agreement is also equivalent to the expectation of duties of about $ 90 billion for state funds, based on last year’s commercial data.

Under the agreement, the EU will also buy energy products and weapons from the US worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Trump said the EU would increase its investment in the US by $ 600 billion, including US military equipment, and will spend $ 750 billion on the energy market.

The trade agreement is presented as a milestone in the relationship between Washington and Brussels, but it was not easy to get here.

Both sides played hard and no one was willing to retreat easily, but neither sides wanted the negotiations to extend beyond the deadline of August 1.

For years, the US president has denounced Europe’s commercial practices as unfair. The first part of this is the deficit. Last year, this meant that the US bought EU products worth $ 236 billion more than they sold to the EU.

Trump adopts the somewhat simplified view that it is an American wealth that is unnecessarily leaving the country. The reality is that international trade is a more complicated situation.

The other complaint is that the strict EU regulations on everything, from cars to chickens, make it difficult for US companies to sell their products to the EU, as opposed to the reverse.

Commission President Ursula von der Laien has acknowledged the need to deal with the deficit. In the announcement of the agreement, he said: “We must restore balance. We have excellent commercial relationships. It is a huge volume of trade we have together. Therefore, we will make it more viable. “

This agreement shows how seriously Trump is facing how the US, the world’s largest economy, work with others.

Since the EU consists of 27 very different countries, it seems to be one of the most difficult trade agreements. This happened a few days after signing another major US agreement with Japan – agreements have also been signed with the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Indonesia.

The other major negotiations on the table are on the three largest US partners – Mexico, Canada and China. And with the US president, with the disposition of agreements, there may be more positive news about the world economy in the next 48 hours.

It is also noted that for the third time in three months, the US and China are holding trade conversations in Stockholm, Sweden on Monday and Tuesday, and expectations that high duties between the world’s two largest economies could be raised. suspend for further 90 days.

A few days ago, Trump said the US “is doing very well with China” and implied that the important point of disagreement over the exports of rare earths had been overcome.

By reaching an agreement with the EU, Washington’s negotiators have a reinforced position as they go on talks with Beijing. However, China has so far adopted a more intransigent stance than other US trade partners. And if the negotiations between the world’s two largest economies fail, world trade could be confronted with significant disorders in the coming months.