Trump, EU's von der Leyen to meet to clinch trade deal
Before the meeting, expected at 1530 GMT Sunday (0130 AEST Monday) on Trump's golf course in Turnberry, western Scotland, US and EU teams were in final talks on tariffs for crucial sectors like cars, steel, aluminium or pharmaceuticals.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick flew to Scotland on Saturday and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic arrived on Sunday morning.
Lutnick told "Fox News Sunday" that the EU needed to open its markets for more US exports to convince Trump to reduce a threatened 30 per cent tariff rate that is due to kick in on August 1.
"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," Lutnick said, adding that the EU clearly wanted - and needed - to reach an agreement.
A separate U.S. administration official was upbeat that a deal was possible. "We're cautiously optimistic that there will be a deal reached," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But it's not over till it's over."
Ambassadors of EU governments, on a weekend trip to Greenland organised by the Danish presidency of the EU, held a teleconference with EU Commission officials on Sunday to agree on the amount of leeway von der Leyen would have in the talks.
In case there is no deal and the U.S. imposes 30 per cent tariffs from August 1, the EU has prepared counter-tariffs on 93 bn euros ($A164 bn) of US goods.
EU diplomats have said a deal would likely include a broad 15 per cent tariff on EU goods imported into the US, mirroring the U.S.-Japan trade deal, along with a 50 per cent tariff on European steel and aluminium for which there could be export quotas.
The EU deal would be a huge prize, given that the US and EU are each other's largest trading partners by far and account for a third of global trade.
EU officials are hopeful that a 15 per cent baseline tariff would also apply to cars, replacing the current 27.5 per cent auto tariff.
Some expect the 27-nation bloc may be able to secure exemptions from the 15 per cent baseline tariff for its aerospace industry and for spirits, though probably not for wine.
The EU could also pledge to buy more liquefied natural gas from the US, a long-standing offer, and boost investment in the United States.
The US president, in Scotland for a few days of golfing and bilateral meetings, told reporters upon his arrival on Friday evening that von der Leyen was a highly respected leader and he was looking forward to meeting with her.
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The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15 per cent tariff on most EU goods exports to the US, including autos. The bloc will also buy $US750 billion worth of American energy and make $US600 billion worth of US investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the US-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A US Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. Previous US-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing US and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include US complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that US national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. 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