Trump on EU and Japan Investments in the U.S.

In early August, President Donald Trump claimed that a trade deal he negotiated with the European Union in July came with hundreds of billions of dollars that the U.S. can use for “anything we want.” But that’s not how the terms were described in a joint statement with the EU on Aug. 21.

The “framework agreement” with the EU announced last week only said that “European companies are expected to invest an additional $600 billion across strategic sectors” in the U.S. during Trump’s term. It did not say money has been paid to the U.S., or that Trump will dictate whatever investments are made, as Trump claimed.

The administration has been negotiating various trade deals as the president has imposed, or threatened, new tariff rates on U.S. imports from countries around the world. Trump announced the broad outlines of a deal to lower Trump’s proposed tariffs on goods from the 27 EU nations in late July, days before new tariffs were going to take effect on Aug. 1.