Trump called it a "big day" for "free and fair trade."
To avert a US-EU trade war, a European delegation spearheaded by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to buy more US agricultural products, bring tariffs on non-auto industrial goods to zero and increase purchases of US liquefied natural gas exports (LNG), an EU source told the Wall Street Journal Wednesday.
Trump confirmed the report in a speech at the Rose Garden outside the White House Wednesday afternoon.
The EU will "buy a lot of soybeans," the president said. He said the agreement to negotiate had made US-EU trade "fairer and more reciprocal — my favorite word — reciprocal."
Speaking alongside Trump, Juncker announced, "When I was invited… to the White House, I had one intention. It was to make a deal today. And we made a deal today."
Trump had previously hinted that he didn't believe the European delegation would be interested in making a deal, tweeting:
The trade partners said they agreed to work on reforming the World Trade Organization and find a resolution to metal tariffs imposed by Washington.
"We agreed today to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods. We will also work to reduce barriers and increase trade in services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical products, soybeans," the EU and US said in a joint statement.