President Donald Trump on Thursday pressed the European Union to move quickly to implement a trade agreement that, according to him, was negotiated last year at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.
In a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trump discussed several topics, including what both leaders described as a shared stance that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. The conversation also covered the transatlantic trade pact the two leaders signed at Turnberry.
Trump characterized the Turnberry accord as the largest trade agreement ever negotiated. He said the EU committed to eliminate tariffs entirely under the deal. According to Trump, he has given von der Leyen until July 4th - the date marking America’s 250th birthday - to carry out the EU’s side of the bargain. He warned that if the EU fails to do so, U.S. tariffs would jump to substantially higher levels.
The agreement signed at the Scottish club in July 2025 sets out reciprocal tariff changes: the EU agreed to remove tariffs on American industrial goods, and the United States would limit tariffs on most imports to 15 percent.
Despite the signatures, the pact still requires implementing legislation within the EU. Negotiations among EU lawmakers and member state governments to adopt the enabling legislation concluded on Wednesday without producing an agreement. The European Commission, which negotiates trade on behalf of the bloc’s 27 members, has not yet passed the legislation necessary to give effect to the deal.
Trump has previously warned that, should the EU fail to enact the Turnberry agreement, he would impose a 25 percent tariff on European automakers. That earlier threat underscores the administration’s stated readiness to use higher tariffs as leverage if the EU does not deliver on the commitments described in the agreement.
The timeline set by Trump makes enactment of the EU enabling legislation a pressing issue for transatlantic trade relations in the weeks ahead. The implementation work rests with EU institutions and member states; the United States has framed the dispute in terms of reciprocal tariff reductions set out in the Turnberry text.
Clear summary: President Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to implement the Turnberry trade deal by July 4th or face sharply higher U.S. tariffs. The pact calls for the EU to remove tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and the U.S. to limit most tariffs to 15 percent, but EU implementing legislation has not yet been approved.