US-EU deal sets a 15% tariff on most goods and averts the threat of a trade war with a global shock

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By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — The United States and the European Union agreed on Sunday to a trade framework setting a 15% tariff on most goods, staving off — at least for now — far higher import duties on both sides that might have sent shock waves through economies around the globe.

The sweeping announcement came after President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen met briefly at Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland. Their private sit-down culminated months of bargaining, with the White House deadline Friday nearing for imposing punishing tariffs on the EU’s 27 member countries.

President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands after reaching a trade deal at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

“It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s going to be great for both parties,” Trump said. The agreement, he said, was “a good deal for everybody” and “a giant deal with lots of countries.”

Von der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability, it will bring predictability, that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Many facets will require more work

As with other, recent tariff agreements that Trump announced with countries including Japan and the United Kingdom, some major details remain pending in this one.

Trump said the EU had agreed to buy some $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and invest $600 billion more than it already is in America — as well as make a major military equipment purchase. He said tariffs “for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15%” and meant that U.S. exporters ”have the opening up of all of the European countries.”

Von der Leyen said the 15% tariffs were “across the board, all inclusive” and that “indeed, basically the European market is open.”

At a later news conference away from Turnberry, she said the $750 billion in additional U.S. energy purchases was actually over the next three years — and would help ease the dependence on natural gas from Russia among the bloc’s countries.

“When the European Union and the United States work together as partners, the benefits are tangible,” Von der Leyen said, noting that the agreement “stabilized on a single, 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports” including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

“15% is a clear ceiling,” she said.

But von der Leyen also clarified that such a rate wouldn’t apply to everything, saying that both sides agreed on “zero for zero tariffs on a number of strategic products,” like all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials.

It is unclear if alcohol will be included in that list.

“And we will keep working to add more products to this list,” she said, while also stressing that the “framework means the figures we have just explained to the public, but, of course, details have to be sorted out. And that will happen over the next weeks.”

Further EU approval needed

In the meantime, there will be work to do on other fronts. Von der Leyen had a mandate to negotiate because the European Commission handles trade for member countries. But the Commission must now present the deal to member states and EU lawmakers, who will ultimately decide whether or not to approve it.

Before their meeting began, Trump pledged to change what he characterized as “a very one-sided transaction, very unfair to the United States.”

“I think both sides want to see fairness,” the Republican president told reporters.

Von der Leyen said the U.S. and EU combined have the world’s largest trade volume, encompassing hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars and added that Trump was “known as a tough negotiator and dealmaker.”

“But fair,” Trump said.

Trump has spent months threatening most of the world with large tariffs in hopes of shrinking major U.S. trade deficits with many key trading partners. More recently, he had hinted that any deal with the EU would have to “buy down” a tariff rate of 30% that had been set to take effect.

But during his comments before the agreement was announced, the president was asked if he’d be willing to accept tariff rates lower than 15%, and he said “no.”

First golf, then trade talk

Their meeting came after Trump played golf for the second straight day at Turnberry, this time with a group that included sons Eric and Donald Jr. In addition to negotiating deals, Trump’s five-day visit to Scotland is built around golf and promoting properties bearing his name.

A small group of demonstrators at the course waved American flags and raised a sign criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who plans his own Turnberry meeting with Trump on Monday.

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Other voices could be heard cheering and chanting “Trump! Trump!” as he played nearby.

On Tuesday, Trump will be in Aberdeen, in northeastern Scotland, where his family has another golf course and is opening a third next month. The president and his sons plan to help cut the ribbon on the new course.

The U.S. and EU seemed close to a deal earlier this month, but Trump instead threatened the 30% tariff rate. The deadline for the Trump administration to begin imposing tariffs has shifted in recent weeks but is now firm and coming Friday, the administration insists.

“No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set, they’ll go into place, Customs will start collecting the money and off we go,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told “Fox News Sunday” before the EU deal was announced. He added, however, that even after that “people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he’s always willing to listen.”

Without an agreement, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.

If Trump eventually followed through on his threat of tariffs against Europe, meanwhile, it could have made everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the United States.

“I think it’s great that we made a deal today, instead of playing games and maybe not making a deal at all,” Trump said. “I think it’s the biggest deal ever made.”

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim in Cincinnati and Samuel Petrequin in London contributed to this report.

White Bear Lake beach concert to raise money for hunger

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Grab a beach towel and sunscreen and prepare to dance as three local bands will perform at White Bear Lake County Park for an annual event to raise money to provide food to neighbors in need, according to the White Bear Lake Area Food Shelf.

White Bear Lake’s 13th annual Heartbeat for Hunger benefit Saturday, Aug. 2, will include musical genres of rock, indie alternative and a fusion of funk, pop, R&B and jazz. Attendees can also enjoy food trucks, cold drinks and a raffle with the chance to win a 2-year lease on a Mazda CX-30 or Chevy Trax from Walser.

Proceeds from the event will go toward the White Bear Area Food Shelf.

The Food Shelf and its volunteers work to create low-barrier access to healthy food, build relationships with community members and offer support services to those experiencing hunger, according to a press release. It serves more than 300 visitors per day through programming and includes a walk-in self-serve community market, curbside grocery pick-up, mobile markets for low-income seniors and college students, a school pantry and KidPack backpack programs for children and youth.

Artists performing at the concert will include Minnesota-based alt-rock/pop group Yam Haus, ‘genre-bending’ sibling quartet NunnAbove, known for ‘their electrifying live shows and soulful fusion of funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz,’ and newly debuted Minneapolis indie-alternative trio Call Me Fritz.

Advance tickets for the show cost $20 and gate tickets are $25. Raffle tickets can be purchased at the concert for $20 or in advance at the Food Shelf.

Heartbeat for Hunger

What: Beach concert fundraiser featuring three Minnesota-based bands

When: 6-10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2

Where: White Bear Lake County Park, 5050 Lake Ave., White Bear Lake

Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the gate

Information: heartbeatforhunger.org

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As Trump shows off his golf courses for Britain’s leader, crisis in Gaza looms

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By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — President Donald Trump once suggested his golf course in Scotland “furthers” the U.S.-U.K. relationship. Now he’s getting the chance to prove it.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is meeting Monday with Trump at a golf property owned by the president’s family near Turnberry in southwestern Scotland — then later traveling to Abderdeen, on the country’s northeast coast, where there’s another Trump golf course and a third is opening soon.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reflected in a mirror during a business showcase event whilst meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

During his first term in 2019, Trump posted of his Turnberry property, “Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!” Starmer is not a golfer, but toggling between Trump’s Scottish courses shows the outsized influence the president puts on properties bearing his name — and on golf’s ability to shape geopolitics.

However, even as Trump may want to focus on showing off his golf properties, Starmer will try to center the conversation on more urgent global matters. He plans to urge Trump to press Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and attempt to end what Downing St. called “the unspeakable suffering and starvation” in the territory, while pushing for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas.

Britain, along with France and Germany, has criticized Israel for “withholding essential humanitarian assistance” as hunger spread in Gaza. Over the weekend, Starmer said Britain will take part in efforts led by Jordan to airdrop aid after Israel temporarily eased restrictions.

But British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds acknowledged Monday that only the U.S. has “the leverage” to make a real difference in the conflict.

Still, asked about the crisis in Gaza on Sunday night, Trump was largely dismissive — focused more on how he’s not personally gotten credit for previous attempts to provide food aid.

“It’s terrible. You really at least want to have somebody say, ‘Thank you,’” Trump said.

The president added, “It makes you feel a little bad when you do that” without what he considered proper acknowledgement.

Starmer is under pressure from his Labour Party lawmakers to follow France in recognizing a Palestinian state, a move both Israel and the U.S. have condemned. The British leader says the U.K. supports statehood for the Palestinians but that it must be “part of a wider plan” for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Also on Monday’s agenda, according to Starmer’s office, are efforts to promote a possible peace deal to end fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine — particularly efforts at forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table in the next 50 days.

Trump in the past sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for also failing to express enough public gratitude toward U.S. support for his country, taking a similar tack he’s now adopting when it comes to aid for Gaza. The president, though, has shifted away from that tone and more sharply criticized Putin and Russia in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, Trump will be at the site of his new course near Aberdeen for an official ribbon-cutting. It opens to the public on Aug. 13 and tee times are already for sale — with the course betting that a presidential visit can help boost sales.

Protesters have planned a demonstration in Balmedie, near Trump’s existing Aberdeen golf course, after demonstrators took to the streets across Scotland on Saturday to decry the president’s visit while he was golfing.

Starmer and Trump are likely to find more common ground on trade issues.

While China initially responded to Trump’s tariff threats by retaliating with high import taxes of its own on U.S. goods, it has since begun negotiating to ease trade tensions. Starmer and his country have taken a far softer approach. He’s gone out of his way to work with Trump, flattering the president repeatedly during a February visit to the White House, and teaming up to announce a joint trade framework on tariffs for some key products in May.

Starmer and Trump then signed a trade agreement during the G7 summit in Canada that freed the U.K.’s aerospace sector from U.S. tariffs and used quotas to reduce them on auto-related industries from 25% to 10% while increasing the amount of U.S. beef it pledged to import.

Discussions with Starmer follow a Trump meeting Sunday with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry course. They announced a trade framework that will put 15% tariffs on most goods from both countries, though many major details remain pending.

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The president has for months railed against yawning U.S. trade deficits around the globe and sees tariffs as a way to try and close them in a hurry. But the U.S. ran an $11.4 billion trade surplus with Britain last year, meaning it exported more to the U.K. than it imported. Census Bureau figures this year indicate that the surplus could grow.

There are still lingering U.S.-Britain trade issues that need fine-tuning. The deal framework from May said British steel would enter the U.S. duty-free, but it continues to face a 25% levy.

U.K. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Monday that “negotiations have been going on on a daily basis” and “there’s a few issues to push a little bit further today,” though he downplayed expectations of a resolution.

The leader of Scotland, meanwhile, said he will urge Trump to lift the current 10% tariff on Scotch whisky. First Minister John Swinney said the spirit’s “uniqueness” justified an exemption.

Even as some trade details linger and both leaders grapple with increasingly difficult choices in Gaza and Ukraine, however, Starmer’s staying on Trump’s good side appears to be working — at least so far.

“The U.K. is very well-protected. You know why? Because I like them — that’s their ultimate protection,” Trump said during the G7.

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Thailand and Cambodia agree to ‘immediate and unconditional’ ceasefire, Malaysian PM says

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By EILEEN NG, JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI and SOPHENG CHEANG, Associated Press

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire in a significant breakthrough to resolve deadly border clashes that entered a fifth day, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Monday.

Anwar, who chaired the talks as head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, said both sides have reached a common understanding to take steps to return to normalcy following what he called frank discussions.

In this photo released by The Government Spokesman Office. Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, front, departs from Military Airport in Bangkok, to Malaysia, to attend a meeting to discuss regional peace at the Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Monday, July 28, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” with effect from midnight local time Tuesday, Anwar said as he read out a joint statement.

“This is a vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security,” Anwar said.

Military and officials from both sides will also hold meetings to defuse border tensions, he said. The foreign and defense ministers of Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand have been instructed to “develop a detailed mechanism” to implement and monitor the ceasefire to ensure sustained peace, he added.

Hun Manet and Phumtam hailed the outcome of the meeting and shook hands at the conclusion of the brief press conference.

Hun Manet said he hoped that bilateral ties could return to normal soon so that some 300,000 villagers evacuated on both sides could return home.

It is “time to start rebuilding trust, confidence and cooperation going forward between Thailand and Cambodia,” he said.

Phumtham said the outcome reflected “Thailand’s desire for a peaceful resolution.”

The fighting flared last Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes, that have killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 260,000 people on both sides. Both countries recalled their ambassadors and Thailand shut all border crossings with Cambodia, with an exception for migrant Cambodian workers returning home.

The Malaysian meeting followed direct pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has warned that the United States may not proceed with trade deals with either country if hostilities continue. The joint statement said that the U.S. is a co-organizer of the talks, with participation from China. The Chinese and American ambassadors to Malaysia attended the meeting that lasted over two hours.

Local students wrap food to give to villagers while they take refuge in Buddhist pagoda in Srey Snam district, Siem Reap province, Cambodia, Sunday, July 28, 2025, amid the fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

The violence marks a rare instance of open military confrontation between ASEAN member states, a 10-nation regional bloc that has prided itself on non-aggression, peaceful dialogue and economic cooperation.

Evacuees from both sides of border earlier prayed for a ceasefire deal.

At an evacuation shelter in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province far away from the border, Ron Mao, 56, said she abd her family fled their home 0.6 mile away from the front line when fighting broke out Thursday. They took refuge in a shelter but moved again to another camp further away after hearing artillery shelling.

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“I don’t want to see this war happen. It’s very difficult and I don’t want to run around like this,” she said. “When I heard our Prime Minister go to negotiate for peace, I would be very happy if they reached the deal as soon as possible, so that I and my children can return home as soon as possible.”

Thai evacuees echoed the sentiment.

“I beg the government. I want it to end quickly,” said farmer Nakorn Jomkamsing at an evacuation camp in Surin hosting more than 6,000 people. “I want to live peacefully. I miss my home, my pets, my pigs, dogs and chicken,” the 63-year-old woman said.

The 500-mile frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades, but past confrontations have been limited and brief. The latest tensions erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand’s domestic politics.

Jintamas reported from Surin, Thailand, and Sopheng Cheang from Samrong, Cambodia. Associated Press writers Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.