BRUSSELS (AP) — American and European Union officials released a bare-bones account Thursday of their trade deal that imposes a 15% import tax on 70% of European goods exported to the United States, but they left blank key areas such as wine and spirits as well as steel and indicated that talks would continue on those and a slew of other important sectors.
The two sides said the document was only “a first step in a process that can be further expanded to cover additional areas.” They are dealing with the vast range of goods traded between the two economies in what is the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world, involving $2 trillion in annual trans-Atlantic business.
The 3 1/2-page text represents a political commitment and is not legally binding. It contrasts with the typical format for trade agreements, which can be hundreds of pages long and carry legal force.
The key provisions are the 15% tariff on most EU goods, a zero rate on U.S. cars and other industrial goods exported to the 27-member EU, and a range of exceptions to the 15% rate for aircraft and aircraft parts, generic pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients, with other sectors to be added for goods crucial to each other’s economies. Those goods would face lower tariffs from before President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught.
“The EU has agreed to open its $20 Trillion market,” Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said on X. “The second largest in the world behind the great USA.”
He said the deal was “a major win for American workers, US industries, and our national security. Tariffs should be one of America's favorite words.”
European officials have had to defend the deal against dismay from businesses and member governments at the higher tariffs and criticism that the EU gave away too much. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sold the deal as granting quick relief from the even higher U.S. tariff on EU cars of 27.5% and as opening the way for further negotiations that could exclude more goods from the 15% tariffs. The deal provides that the lower tariff on cars would apply retroactively from Aug. 1 if the EU can introduce legislation to implement its part of the deal by then, which EU officials say they will do.
“Faced with a challenging situation, we have delivered for our member states and industry and restored clarity and coherence to transatlantic trade,” von der Leyen said. “This is not the end of the process.”
The chief EU trade negotiator, Maros Sefcovic, echoed those sentiments. "The alternative was a trade war with sky high tariffs ... it builds confidence. It brings stability,” he said.
Economists say higher tariffs slow economic growth and will be reflected in higher consumer prices.
One category of goods not excluded from tariffs on EU goods was wine and spirits, which had enjoyed zero tariffs on both ends since a 1997 trade deal. Sefcovic, said EU officials had not won an exemption “yet” but hoped to in future talks and that “doors are not closed forever” on that issue.
That means American distillers face zero tariffs in Europe the short term, but also the possibility of EU retaliation down the line, said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. “Without a permanent return to zero-for-zero tariffs on spirits, American distillers do not have the certainty to plan for future export and job growth without the fear of retaliatory tariffs returning,” Swonger said in a statement.
The EU has suspended retaliatory tariffs on US goods including wine and spirits until Feb. 5, 2026.
Proposals to exempt a certain amount of EU steel imports, known as a tariff rate quota, have been left unresolved pending more talks.
The 15% tariff is much higher than tariff levels on both sides from before Trump began imposing his tariffs, when they averaged in the low single digits. The tariffs are paid on the U.S. end, either absorbed by American businesses importing the goods, lowering their profits, or passed on to U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices at the cash register.
The deal also includes nonbinding EU commitments to purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy and for EU companies to invest $600 billion in the U.S. In both cases, the money would come from private companies and is based on assessment by the European Commission on what companies were planning to spend.
McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany, and Hussein from Washington.
European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic, speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic, speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) — Like many retirement communities, The Terraces serves as a tranquil refuge for a nucleus of older people who no longer can travel to faraway places or engaging in bold adventures.
But they can still be thrust back to their days of wanderlust and thrill-seeking whenever caretakers at the community in Los Gatos, California, schedule a date for residents — many of whom are in their 80s and 90s — to take turns donning virtual reality headsets.
Within a matter of minutes, the headsets can transport them to Europe, immerse them in the ocean depths or soar them on breathtaking hang-gliding expeditions while they sit by each other. The selection of VR programming was curated by Rendever, a company that has turned a sometimes isolating form of technology into a catalyst for better cognition and social connections in 800 retirement communities in the United States and Canada.
A group of The Terraces residents who participated in a VR session earlier this year found themselves paddling their arms alongside their chairs as they swam with a pod of dolphins while watching one of Rendever's 3D programs. “We got to go underwater and didn't even have to hold our breath!” exclaimed 81-year-old Ginny Baird following the virtual submersion.
During a session featuring a virtual ride in a hot-air balloon, one resident gasped, “Oh my God!” Another shuddered, “It's hard to watch!”
The Rendever technology can also be used to virtually take older adults back to the places where they grew up as children. For some, it will be the first time they've seen their hometowns in decades.
A virtual trip to her childhood neighborhood in New York City's Queens borough helped sell Sue Livingstone, 84, on the merits of the VR technology even though she still is able to get out more often than many residents of The Terraces, which is located in Silicon Valley about 55 miles south of San Francisco.
“It isn't just about being able to see it again, it's about all the memories that it brings back,” Livingstone said. “There are a few people living here who never really leave their comfort zones. But if you could entice them to come down to try out a headset, they might find that they really enjoy it.”
Adrian Marshall, The Terraces' community life director, said that once word about a VR experience spreads from one resident to another, more of the uninitiated typically become curious enough to try it out — even if it means missing out on playing Mexican Train, a dominoes-like board game that's popular in the community.
“It turns into a conversation starter for them. It really does connect people,” Marshall said of Rendever's VR programming. “It helps create a human bridge that makes them realize they share certain similarities and interests. It turns the artificial world into reality.”
Rendever, a privately owned company based in Somerville, Massachusetts, hopes to build upon its senior living platform with a recent grant from the National Institutes of Health that will provide nearly $4.5 million to study ways to reduce social isolation among seniors living at home and their caregivers.
Some studies have found VR programming presented in a limited viewing format can help older people maintain and improve cognitive functions, burnish memories and foster social connections with their families and fellow residents of care facilities. Experts say the technology may be useful as an addition to and not a replacement for other activities.
“There is always a risk of too much screen time," Katherine “Kate” Dupuis, a neuropsychologist and professor who studies aging issues at Sheridan College in Canada, said. “But if you use it cautiously, with meaning and purpose, it can be very helpful. It can be an opportunity for the elderly to engage with someone and share a sense of wonder.”
VR headsets may be an easier way for older people to interact with technology instead of fumbling around with a smartphone or another device that requires navigating buttons or other mechanisms, said Pallabi Bhowmick, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who is examining the use of VR with older adults.
“The stereotypes that older adults aren’t willing to try new technology needs to change because they are willing and want to adapt to technologies that are meaningful to them,” Bhowmick said. "Besides helping them to relieve stress, be entertained and connect with other people, there is an intergenerational aspect that might help them build their relationships with younger people who find out they use VR and say, ‘Grandpa is cool!’"
Rendever CEO Kyle Rand's interest in helping his own grandmother deal with the emotional and mental challenges of aging pushed him down a path that led him to cofound the company in 2016 after studying neuroengineering at Duke University.
“What really fascinates me about humans is just how much our brain depends on social connection and how much we learn from others,” Rand said. “A group of elderly residents who don't really know each other that well can come together, spend 30 minutes in a VR experience together and then find themselves sitting down to have lunch together while continuing a conversation about the experience.”
It's a large enough market that another VR specialist, Dallas-based Mynd Immersive, competes against Rendever with services tailored for senior living communities.
Besides helping create social connections, the VR programming from both Rendever and Mynd has been employed as a possible tool for potentially slowing down the deleterious effects of dementia. That's how another Silicon Valley retirement village, the Forum, sometimes uses the technology.
Bob Rogallo, a Forum resident with dementia that has rendered him speechless, seemed to be enjoying taking a virtual hike through Glacier National Park in Montana as he nodded and smiled while celebrating his 83rd birthday with his wife of 61 years.
Sallie Rogallo, who doesn't have dementia, said the experience brought back fond memories of the couple's visits to the same park during the more than 30 years they spent cruising around the U.S. in their recreational vehicle.
“It made me wish I was 30 years younger so I could do it again,” she said of the virtual visit to Glacier. “This lets you get out of the same environment and either go to a new place or visit places where you have been.”
In another session at the Forum, 93-year-old Almut Schultz laughed with delight while viewing a virtual classical music performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and later seemed to want to play with a puppy frolicking around in her VR headset.
“That was quite a session we had there,” Schultz said with a big grin after she took off her headset and returned to reality.
Rendever CEO Kyle Rand is pictured at Salesforce Park in San Francisco on June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Jim Holtshouse and his son, Mike Holtshouse, watch video through Rendever virtual-reality headsets at the Forum at Rancho San Antonio retirement community in Cupertino, Calif. on June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Bob Rogallo watches video through a Rendever virtual-reality headset at the Forum at Rancho San Antonio retirement community in Cupertino, Calif. on June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Mike Holtshouse and his father, Jim Holtshouse, watch video through Rendever virtual-reality headsets at the Forum at Rancho San Antonio retirement community in Cupertino, Calif. on June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Jim Holtshouse watches video through a Rendever virtual-reality headset at the Forum at Rancho San Antonio retirement community in Cupertino, Calif. on June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
