Reaction to the European Union’s trade agreement with the Trump administration

FRANKFURT Germany AP The European Union s exchange agreement with the Trump administration is getting mixed reviews EU personnel say they warded off a total economic tragedy But French administrators in particular say the EU punched below its weight while economists say the deal is dangerously vague The deal leaves Europe with a tariff on the majority goods imported into the U S with a few goods categories tariff-free but no agreement on rates for key areas such as pharmaceuticals and steel Here is what they re saying European Commission Failing to reach a deal by the Aug deadline would have meant a tariff threatened by U S President Donald Trump EU chief contract negotiator Maro ef ovi mentioned The main aim of European executives was a negotiated agreement rather than a tit-for-tat escalation that could have included retaliatory EU tariffs on billion euros billion worth of goods including U S agricultural products steel and chemicals A business war may seem appealing to a few but it comes with serious consequences with at least a tariff ef ovi announced Our trans-Atlantic commerce would effectively come to a halt putting close to million jobs including those in SMEs small- and medium-sized enterprises in Europe at grave vulnerability Our businesses have sent us a unanimous message avoid escalation and work towards a explanation that delivers immediate relief he commented France A dark day Major exports to the U S Aircraft pharmaceuticals luxury perfumes and leather goods wine and spirits Senior French representatives on Monday criticized the accord with Foreign Deal Minister Laurent Saint-Martin urging a European response in the services sector and Strategy Commissioner Cl ment Beaune warning it underplayed the -nation bloc s economic strength The good news is that there is an agreement our companies now have visibility and stability in the trans-Atlantic arrangement relationship Saint-Martin revealed on France Inter radio But this agreement is not balanced and we will need to keep working He pointed to digital services as a key front in the bargain imbalance Donald Trump spent months saying he wished to rebalance a business relationship that disadvantages the United States but he was only talking about goods If we look at services it s the opposite So it s up to us now to carry out the work of force and rebalancing he explained The United States decided to use force to impose a new law of the jungle that no longer respects the rules of international deal that we had for decades Saint-Martin commented Beaune France s high commissioner for strategy and planning revealed on franceinfo radio that this is an unequal and unbalanced agreement He warned that Europe did not wield its strength We are the world s leading trading power When you look at it the glass is a quarter full and three-quarters empty Beaune reported Prime Minister Fran ois Bayrou was even more scathing posting on X It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples united to uphold their values and defend their interests resigns itself to submission Germany Avoided unnecessary escalation Major exports to the U S Motor vehicles pharmaceuticals and industrial machinery German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the deal would give companies a more predictable habitat to plan and invest a key EU goal after weeks of back-and-forth threats in tense talks with Trump administration authorities It is good that Europe and the USA have agreed and thus avoided an unnecessary escalation in trans-Atlantic agreement relations he stated We have been able to preserve our core interests even if I would have very much wished for further relief in trans-Atlantic bargain Appealed about negative reactions to the deal from German business Merz countered that it was met with relief by specific companies and sectors However it is thoroughly clear to me that the tariffs that now remain in particular the against for imports to the European Union constitute a substantial burden for the export-oriented financial sector of the Federal Republic of Germany Merz noted noting that he had declared repeatedly before the agreement that there will be an asymmetric deal if there is one at all Italy Positive outcome Major exports to the U S Industrial machinery cars and agricultural products Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni who has positioned herself as a bridge between the Trump administration and Europe welcomed news of the tariff agreement as a positive outcome that avoided an unpredictable and potentially devastating exchange war But in comments to reporters on the sidelines of a U N food safety conference in Addis Ababa Ethiopia she disclosed that details still needed to be worked out and that she s still unclear what exemptions are carved out for particular industries I dependably thought I continue to think that a agreement escalation between Europe and the United States would have unpredictable potentially devastating consequences she announced Meloni stated that she needed to understand what the exemptions might be including on agricultural products which are of concern to Italy given its wine exports in particular So there are a number of elements that are missing as well as I don t know exactly what we are referring to when we talk about investments gas purchases She noted that the deal in its current form is legally nonbinding in principle so there is still let s say room to fight Hungary Trump ate EU for breakfast Major exports to the U S Packaged medicines and batteries Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb n an ally of Trump who has gained a following within the MAGA movement blasted the agreement on Monday as a failure on the part of Europe s leadership Even at first glance it is obvious to me that this is not an agreement Orb n disclosed in a video discussion with his party s spokesman Donald Trump ate European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast that s what happened Orb n a frequent EU critic has been careful not to criticize Trump s administration for its agreement guidelines instead faulting the bloc for being unable to conclude a comprehensive tariff agreement with Washington Orb n noted that a U S -U K bargain deal which imposed a blanket tariff on British exports was more favorable than the one concluded with the EU The American president is a heavyweight negotiator and von der Leyen is a featherweight Orb n disclosed The European agreement is worse than the British one so portraying it as a success will be complex Economists Less advancement countless blank spots Jon Harrison at TS Lombard It is no surprise to find that contract deals agreed under duress in weeks rather than the usual years of careful negotiation leave a mass of detail incomplete and open to interpretation Jack Allen-Reynolds deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics We think this will reduce EU GDP gross domestic product by about which is worse than we had previously assumed While the deal has avoided a much worse outcome for now it remains to be seen whether it will last Julian Hinz commerce expert at the Kiel Institute for the World Economic activity The deal agreed the preceding day is not a good deal it is appeasement While the EU may avert a transaction war in the short term it is paying a high price in the long term by abandoning the principles of the multilateral rules-based world agreement system of the World Deal Organization Justin Spike communicated from Budapest Hungary Thomas Adamson from Paris and Nicole Winfield from Rome Sam McNeil contributed to this analysis from Brussels Source