Europe must show its trade alternatives are a better model of action than Trump's

Despite cries that the EU has capitulated to Donald Trump, a deal to limit US tariffs to 15% should provide some relief for Europe's companies.

- David Henig

Damage will be contained in the three largest goods export sectors, with aircraft and parts exempted, cars limited to 15% for unlimited quantities (unlike the UK's quota) and a reasonable likelihood that future tariffs on pharmaceuticals, accounting for nearly a quarter of exported products to the US, will be capped.

What these “napkin deals” cannot deliver is certainty. Three months on from the global tariff threat - Trump's so-called Liberation Day - there is no legal text for the UK-US deal, and details in every pact signed so far are subject to change or invention as issues arise.

Given this, no major relocation decisions will be made over minor differences between UK, EU or Japanese figures, because there can be no confidence they will last. Indeed, as with Brexit, there are signs of overall manufacturing investment being suppressed.