Trump begins EU trade discussions at golf resort meeting in Scotland

President Donald Trump headed into high-stakes talks Sunday with a top European official demanding fairer trade with the 27-member European Union and threatening steep tariffs to achieve that while insisting the United States will not go below 15 per cent import taxes.

Make-or-break talks could head off punishing U.S. tariffs and promised retaliation from Europe that could send shock waves through economies around the globe.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, seated next to Trump at his golf resort on the Scottish coast, called for a rebalancing of bilateral trade worth billions of dollars between the vital partners. Speaking to reporters before their private meeting, she and Trump put the chances of reaching an agreement at 50-50 as Friday’s White House deadline neared.

“This is bigger than any other deal,” Trump said. He suggested they could cut a deal in just a short time.

Trump called von der Leyen “highly respected” and meeting with her at his Turnberry golf course, where he played in the morning, was an honor. “The main sticking point,” the Republican president said, was ”fairness.”

For months, Trump has threatened most of the world with large tariffs in hopes of shrinking major U.S. trade deficits with many key trading partners, including the EU.

Trump has hinted that any deal with the EU would have to “buy down” the currently scheduled tariff rate of 30 per cent. During the remarks before the media Sunday, he pointed to a recent U.S. agreement with Japan that set tariff rates for many goods at 15 per cent and suggested the EU could agree to something similar.

Asked if he would be willing to accept tariff rates lower than that, Trump said “no.”

Their meeting came after Trump played golfed for the second straight day at his Turnberry course on the southwest coast of Scotland, this time with a group that included sons Eric and Donald Jr. The president’s five-day visit to Scotland is built around golf and promoting properties bearing his name.

A small group of demonstrators at the course waved American flags and raised a sign criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who plans his own Turnberry meeting with Trump on Monday. Other voices could be heard cheering and chanting “Trump! Trump!” as he played nearby.

On Tuesday, Trump will be in Aberdeen, in northeastern Scotland, where his family has another golf course and is opening a third next month. The president and his sons plan to help cut the ribbon on the new course.

Joining von der Leyen were Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s chief trade negotiator; Björn Seibert, the head of von der Leyen’s Cabinet; Sabine Weyand, the commission’s directorate-general for trade, and Tomas Baert, head of the trade and agriculture at the EU’s delegation to the U.S.

Trending Now

The U.S. and EU seemed close to a deal earlier this month, but Trump instead threatened the 30 per cent tariff rate. The deadline for the Trump administration to begin imposing tariffs has shifted in recent weeks but is now firm, the administration insists.

“No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set, they’ll go into place, Customs will start collecting the money and off we go,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told “Fox News Sunday.” He added, however, that even after that “people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he’s always willing to listen.”

Lutnick said the EU “needs to make a deal and wants to make a deal and they are flying to Scotland to make a deal with President Trump. The question is do they offer President Trump a good enough deal that is worth it for him to step off of the 30 per cent tariffs that he set.”

Without an agreement, the EU says it is prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.

If Trump eventually makes good on his threat of tariffs against Europe, it could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the United States.

The U.S. and Britain, meanwhile, announced a trade framework in May and a larger agreement last month during the Group of Seven meeting in Canada. Trump says that deal is concluded and that he and Starmer will discuss other matters, though the White House has suggested it still needs some polishing.