European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has publicly defended the transatlantic tariff agreement reached with U.S. President Donald Trump, portraying it as a “conscious decision” to preserve stability and predictability in global commerce. In an op-ed and subsequent remarks, she argued that the pact prevents an escalation that would have been “celebrated in Moscow and Beijing.” The accord, sealed on 27 July at Turnberry and clarified in a four-page joint declaration on 21 August, limits U.S. duties on European cars, medicines and other goods to 15 percent while placing similar ceilings on EU levies. Brussels also committed to expand procurement of U.S. energy and defence equipment and signalled up to $600 billion in additional investment in America, though officials stress the figure is not legally binding. EU officials say the truce removes a major economic irritant and secures Washington’s cooperation on Ukraine. Critics in European capitals counter that the arrangement weakens the bloc’s image as a guardian of rules-based trade and risks encouraging managed-trade bargains with other powers. The debate underscores the political cost of accommodating a more transactional U.S. trade policy under Trump’s second term.