The US and European Union have fleshed out details on their sweeping trade deal, promising billions in AI chip sales, a 15 percent tariff cap on key sectors including autos and semiconductors, and a framework for digital rule-making that could reshape the transatlantic tech industry.
The pact, announced on Thursday, confirms that Brussels intends to buy at least $40 billion worth of US AI chips for its computing centers, guaranteeing business for American suppliers and giving the EU the silicon it needs for its AI and cloud ambitions. Both sides also promised to align technology security standards to prevent "leakage to destinations of concern," with Washington pledging easier export approvals once safeguards are in place.
The proposed deal, controversially, puts Europe's $20 trillion market firmly in the frame, with the Commission saying that it "intends to eliminate tariffs on all US industrial goods and to provide preferential market access for a wide range of US seafood and agricultural goods."
The semiconductor terms are especially notable. US President Donald Trump had threatened a 100 percent tariff on EU and other chip imports, raising fears of a trade war that would have battered the industry.
Instead, both sides settled on a 15 percent cap, which still stings but is preferable to doomsday scenarios. The same 15 percent ceiling also covers pharmaceuticals (except generics) and lumber. Trump had earlier threatened tariffs of up to 250 percent on pharma to push drugmakers back to the US.
