U.S.-EU trade deal sparks criticism across Europe

The newly announced U.S.-EU trade agreement, hailed by the White House as historic, has drawn widespread criticism across Europe for imposing steep tariffs on EU exports and being heavily imbalanced in favor of the United States.

BRUSSELS, July 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday that the United States and the European Union (EU) had reached a new trade agreement. While the White House touted the deal as "historic," many in Europe have criticized it as unfair to the EU.

At a press conference on Sunday following his meeting with von der Leyen in Scotland, Trump announced that, under the agreement, the EU will purchase 750 billion U.S. dollars' worth of energy products from the United States and increase its investment in the United States by 600 billion dollars.

A document released by the White House on Monday shows that the vast majority of EU exports to the United States, including pharmaceuticals, automobiles and parts, and semiconductors, will face a 15-percent tariff rate, while European steel, aluminum, and copper products exported to the United States will continue to be subject to a 50-percent tariff.

The deal, which the White House said marked "a generational modernization of the transatlantic alliance," has sparked criticism from political leaders to experts across multiple European countries, with French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou calling Sunday "a dark day" for the EU as it has chosen to "submit."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that the agreement would significantly harm the German economy, as tariffs pose a serious burden for Germany's export-oriented economy.

Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, warned that the deal could undermine the bloc's economic stability and job security, describing it as "unsatisfactory" and "significantly imbalanced."

"This is a deal with a slant. Clearly, concessions have been made that are difficult to bear," Lange said in a statement on Sunday. "Overall, this deal will contribute to weakening the EU's economic development and harming its gross domestic product."

Finnish Minister of Finance Riikka Purra voiced sharp criticism of the trade agreement, saying that while the EU may be negotiating from a weaker position, the reported agreement appeared terribly imbalanced.

Purra also raised questions about the promised purchase and investment valued at up to 1.3 trillion dollars, what she referred to as a "sweetener" accompanying the agreement. She challenged the legitimacy of such a financial commitment from the EU, wondering under what mandate it had been negotiated.

Professor Julian Hinz of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy warned that the new transatlantic trade deal risks undermining the global rules-based trading system, calling the agreement "appeasement" that marks a serious departure from multilateral trade principles.

"While the EU may avert a trade 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 trade system of the World Trade Organization, which has been instrumental in guaranteeing Europe's prosperity to date," said Hinz.

Clemens Fuest, president of the Munich-based ifo Institute, said the trade deal is a humiliation for the EU while reflecting an imbalance of power.

"The Europeans need to wake up, focus more on economic strength and reduce their military and technological dependence on the U.S. Then they can renegotiate," he said.■