The United States and Europe are close to reaching a 15% tariff agreement

On July 24th, according to the British Financial Times, the European Union and the United States are close to reaching a trade agreement that will impose 15% tariffs on European imports, similar to the agreement reached by Trump with Japan this week. Three people familiar with the matter said Brussels may agree to so-called reciprocal tariffs to avoid the US president's threat to increase tariffs to 30% from August 1st. The two sides will also exempt some products from tariffs, including aircraft, spirits and medical equipment, the people said. The people familiar with the matter said they understand that the 15% minimum tariff will include existing tariffs, and Brussels believes that the agreement essentially solidifies the status quo. The current 27.5% auto tariff is expected to be reduced to 15%. They also said the EU would continue to prepare a package of retaliatory tariffs that could be as high as 93 billion euros at a top rate of 30 percent in case a deal could not be reached by August 1.