Europeans should take the tariffs and trade war that the U.S. has threatened seriously and prepare themselves for the end of common rules in trans-Atlantic relations.
The new U.S. president is not yet in office, but Donald Trump already has the world holding its breath. His tariffs for the country’s three most significant trading partners could set off an international trade war and cause the global economy to descend into chaos. The announcement is a raised middle finger: The most powerful man in the world is scared of nothing and no one.
Optimists may interpret the threat as unconventional leverage for negotiations. But the demands are so maximalist that the three countries could not possibly meet them — certainly not by Jan. 20. Even more disturbing is that Trump is not imposing tariffs to even out trade imbalances but as an imperialist lever against political decisions by foreign governments. Not much imagination is needed to picture what that means for Europe.
It is time that Europeans take the message seriously: The era of common values and rules in trans-Atlantic relations are over. The new U.S. president has only one partner: himself.
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