VCI Welcomes US-EU Customs Deal
The German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) welcomes the fact that Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and US President Donald Trump have averted the danger of a trade war for the time being.
The United States and the European Union have agreed to a trade framework imposing a 15% tariff on most goods, preventing significantly higher duties that threatened both economies. The deal, reached on Sunday after talks between President Donald Trump and EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland, followed months of tense negotiations ahead of a looming tariff deadline.
Cautious Relief Over High Tariffs, Calls for Further Action
VCI Managing Director Wolfgang Große Entrup comments: "Anyone expecting a hurricane is grateful for a storm. A further escalation could be avoided. Nevertheless, the price for both sides is high. Europe's exports are losing competitiveness. US customers pay the tariffs."
From the point of view of the chemical industry, the agreement in principle, which still needs to be analyzed in detail, is only the basis for a process to strengthen transatlantic relations. The VCI Managing Director is clear: "The agreed tariffs are too high from the point of view of the chemical industry. At the same time, however, it is good that even higher tariffs have been avoided. Now the German government must act even more consistently to compensate for this additional ballast."
The chemical industry, with its many thousands of products, is the enabler for all other industries - in the USA and the EU. "It is now important that the chemical tariffs in the USA and the EU are significantly reduced again in further negotiations. This would facilitate the reindustrialization and transformation of the industry on both sides of the Atlantic," says Große Entrup.
