The agreement between the EU and the US “brings renewed stability and opens the door to strategic collaboration”, said Commissioner for Trade Maros Šefčovič at a press conference in Brussels today, summarising the deal reached during the meeting between President Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump in Scotland yesterday. It took ten trips by his team to Washington and “months of genuine and relentless efforts”, unmatched in their intensity, given the unparalleled importance of transatlantic trade, worth $1.7 trillion. The stakes were so high that it took time “to calibrate an outcome that works for both the EU and the US, as well as ensures that trade between us can continue”. The alternative was a trade war and 30% tariffs that would have halted transatlantic trade and put nearly five million jobs at risk. Which is why, according to Šefčovič, several business groups reportedly welcomed the terms of the agreement, which also includes forthcoming tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, with a single 15% tariff ceiling, plus $750 billion in strategic purchases, and an additional $600 billion in anticipated private investments into the US economy. The Trade Commissioner also highlighted another three aspects of the agreement, namely the fact that some goods will have a zero-tariff rate, a “metals alliance” (steel, aluminium, copper and their derivatives), and finally the benefits for technological trade. Šefčovič expressed the hope that all this could be “a stepping stone to a broader EU-US trade and investment agreement in the future”. Dialogue with the US will continue. Both Member States and the European Parliament will have to express their views.