EU Scrambles to Ink Last-Minute Deal With Trump Before Clock Runs Out

Brussels burns midnight oil as geopolitical chess game enters overtime.

Diplomatic dash comes as Trump’s ’America First’ stance threatens to upend transatlantic trade—again.

Behind closed doors: Bureaucrats tap-dance around tariffs while Wall Street bankers place bets on who blinks first.

The White House has sent the EU a detailed list of demands

The list includes the EU’s value-added tax system, food safety rules, and national digital services taxes.

An industry source familiar with the discussions said Trump is seeking a quick deal with a mix of tangible and symbolic victories, but that his administration’s demands go well beyond what the EU is willing—or in some cases able—to grant.

For example, taxes fall under the authority of individual EU member states, so the Commission cannot simply negotiate them away.

Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, who is leading a delegation of lawmakers to Washington this week, said the U.S. is complaining about barriers that do not exist.

“It’s about our standards, our chemicals regulation, and our digital regulation,” he said before the trip. “These are not non-tariff barriers. They are not on the table in negotiations.”

Lange added that the EU could review certain rules to see if they are overly strict, but it would not abandon its standards wholesale as the WHITE House seems to demand.

The Trump administration has also called for the reshoring of manufacturing, especially for steel, cars, mobile phones, and semiconductors, urging companies to MOVE production back to the United States.

Irish Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon said on Monday that the EU was right to seek a mutually beneficial agreement, and that Trump’s frustration at the union’s refusal to “just roll over” was almost a compliment to the bloc’s stance.

“We are one of the most important trading partners for the U.S., so we shouldn’t simply agree to every demand from the White House,” Heydon said. “We need to negotiate and explain the mutually beneficial nature of the trade.”

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