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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Georg Riekeles and Varg Folkman

Europe’s trade deal with the US was dead on arrival – it needs to be buried. Here’s how to do it

Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump at the announcement of a trade deal between the US and EU, Turnberry, Scotland, 27 July 2025.
Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump at the announcement of a trade deal between the US and EU, Turnberry, Scotland, 27 July 2025. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Ursula von der Leyen’s Turnberry golf course deal has been rightly called a capitulation and a humiliation for Europe. Assuming such an accord would put an end to Donald Trump’s coercion and bullying was either naive or the result of a miserable delusion. The EU should now steel itself and reject the terms imposed by Trump.

Is this deal really as bad as it sounds? Unfortunately, it is, for at least three reasons.

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