The President of the USA Donald Trump and that of the European Commission Ursula von der leyen they met in the Turnberry Golf Club, in Scotland, to discuss the agreement on duties. The two reached an agreement to halve the customs rates threatened by the United States, bringing them to 15%.
The details of the agreement will be announced in the next few days. For the moment, however, it seems clear that i products pharmaceuticals they will be excluded from the agreement and will have their own rate. It is not clear whether there will be shares of imports from these duties. Similar situation also for cars.
Reached the agreement between the USA and the EU on the duties
The European Union and the United States found theagreement on duties After the meeting between Trump and Ursula von der Leyen. The key points of the intended are:
- 15% duties will be imposed on all European exports to the USA;
- The EU will buy 750 billion dollars in American energy raw materials;
- European companies will invest 600 billion dollars in the USA;
- The EU will acquire American weapons.
However, there are still several Out of suspended detailswhich will be clarified by the final text of the agreement. The amount of weapons that the EU should buy is not clear. Trump then declared that the rates on steel and aluminum “will remain where they are”, but had first introduced and then suspended 50% duties on these products.
The importance of the agreement
The agreement between Trump and Von der Leyen has made it possible to avoid one commercial war between two of the world economic giants, which would have damaged the international economy. The agreement on the duties also brings Washington and Brussels closer, after a very difficult period in the first months of the Trump presidency.
Through diplomacy, the EU has obtained duties that are not only lower than those recently threatened by Trump (which were 30%) but also lower than the so -called “mutual duties” in April. If we consider that, according to the announcement of mutual duties, the US should impose 10% customs tariffs on all imports, 15% reserved for the EU could allow European companies to remain relatively competitive.
The exclusion of pharmaceutical products
Even before the meeting Donald Trump has made it clear that i products pharmaceuticals They would not have been involved in the agreement between the EU and the US on the duties. On this category of products, a particular customs tariff would therefore have been a priori, with the aim of penalizing European companies on the American market. The President of the US said:
Basically pharmaceutical products they will not be part of itbecause we have to make them build, produce in the United States, and we want them to be produced in the United States. And I think it’s easy to say, and I think it is important to say, pharmaceutical products are very special. We cannot find ourselves in a position in which we must depend on other countries.
For Italy this is bad news. The pharmaceutical sector is the second for exports, both ever and in particular towards the USA. The companies that produce drugs, ingredients and active ingredients have obtained from the American market more than 10 billion euros of value in 2024, in strong growth compared to 8 billion in 2023.
