BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen defended the EU’s controversial trade accord with Donald Trump, warning that failure to strike a deal would have been a gift to Europe’s rivals.
“Imagine for a moment that the two largest democratic economies had not managed to reach an agreement and instead launched a trade war — only Moscow and Beijing would be celebrating,” von der Leyen wrote in an op-ed published Saturday night in El Mundo.
The Commission chief painted the four-page framework agreement, finalized last week, as a deliberate choice for “stability and predictability over escalation and confrontation.”
The pact caps most U.S. tariffs on EU goods at 15 percent, including on cars and pharmaceuticals, and carves out exemptions for generics and aircraft parts.
Critics, including former World Trade Organization boss Pascal Lamy, have warned the accord risks undermining Europe’s credibility as a defender of rules-based trade.
But von der Leyen insisted the EU had secured a unique outcome: a single tariff ceiling of 15 percent, unlike the layered rates Washington applies to other partners.
She also stressed that EU food safety, health and digital rules remain untouched, and pointed to Brussels’ efforts to diversify trade ties, including through deals with Mexico, the South American bloc of Mercosur countries, and a goal of clinching a pact with India before year’s end.
Von der Leyen echoed former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, who on Friday called to tear down internal market barriers, arguing they do more to hobble growth than any foreign tariff. “If Europe wants to fully unlock its potential, this is the most urgent challenge,” she wrote.
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