EU leaders are only able to argue Donald Trump at rhetoric level. The current trade agreement between the European Union and the United States shows the progressive asymmetry in common relations.
The most dramatic scene in the erstwhile relations between the US president and the current EU leadership took place during Volodymyr Zelenski's February visit to the White House. A memorable argument, which mainstream media interpreted as the heartless outburst of Trump and Vance over the leader of a troubled country, was in fact a ‘substitution conflict’ between the leaders of the Old Continent and the fresh administration. The Eurocrats did not have the courage to face Trump personally, so at least they provoked the Ukrainian president dependent on him.
Trump hands out cards
European leaders have organised a “spontaneous” summit in London after a decision in Washington, D.C., at which they have presented a dangerous-sounding plan to take on the burden of safety on the continent, allegedly without further American assistance. Individual leaders, specified as Donald Tusk, have even begun to scare their countrymen before a large Russian invasion is about to take place and to call for a large acceleration of the associate States' surrender of power to Brussels.
The political carnival in the Union lasted little than a month, as in early April Donald Trump unilaterally declared a trade war on the full world. Already the first of the agreements concluded, signed with Britain, showed that everyone would gotta bend. It was already almost certain that the Union would besides be humiliated.
However, before this humiliation took place, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had already made many Bunchu declarations. It already stated from the outset that the Union is ready to usage a number of retaliatory measures without mentioning any circumstantial ones. It was only in time that a plan was developed in Brussels to usage the alleged anti-compulsory economical instrument, which would let the introduction of duties on US goods worth a full of 93 billion dollars. According to the later proposal of the retaliatory tariff package, they would amount to 109 billion dollars.
Such announcements, however, had very small fire power from the very beginning. For both parties, it was clear that Europe needed the US market, not the another way around. In fresh years, the American economy has turned to an “altruistic” mode, offering a larger part of the planet the anticipation of unfettered exports of goods, but Trump has decided to cut this down. The masterpiece of his trade war, conducted with the full planet at the same time, is to a large degree that all negotiating states are aware that the sooner they respond to American demands, the more they can save from the erstwhile freedom of flooding the U.S. with their goods.
Union weak position
The weak negotiating position of the European Union has been evident from the very beginning. associate States in the Union are not independent in the supply of energy resources, they stay dependent on the US in the field of security, and their demolition by the Green Governance of the economy produces increasingly little attractive goods and services to the American consumer.
For this reason, erstwhile both Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Scotland at the end of July, it was known that the final negotiation would end in a spectacular failure of the EU side. On July 12, Trump threatened explicitly that if the European Union does not sign a trade agreement by the end of the month, it would rise the duties to up to 30%. Initially, von der Leyen argued that it would be possible to keep a rate of 10% or to benefit from a solution consisting of a bilateral exemption from customs duties on selected goods. However, it turned out rather rapidly that she had to accept Trump's first demands, which demanded rates of 20%.
The most crucial points of the trade agreement concluded on 27 July supply that a 15% rate of work will be introduced on most of the goods exported from the European Union to the US. Exception will be steel, aluminium, medicines and any of the natural materials that will be subject to the current rates. The European Union will commit itself to investing as much as 600 billion dollars in the US economy by the end of 2029 (including in the automotive and arms industry).
If EU countries can talk about any success, it can surely be seen at a point that provides for a simplification in tariffs on cars from 25 to 15 percent. It undoubtedly shows that the United States prefers to strengthen the Old Continent against China, which has been storming the world's automotive markets in fresh years. The same intentions made themselves known in terms of steel and aluminium, which were treated specifically, mainly due to a common threat from an Asian competitor. Trump already in his first word of office intended to get out of the way of Europe's knowing with the mediate State to the detriment of transatlantic relations, and the agreement just signed is his large success in this area.
Green humiliation
Another crucial point of the agreement is that the European Union is expected to acquisition energy resources from the US (mainly liquid gas) worth $750 billion over the next 3 years. It can be regarded as the most humiliating of all, as the United States, under Trump's leadership, not only has left climate policy with momentum, it inactive guarantees the energy safety of the EU's zero-emissions. Adopted in the United States, 1 large Beautiful Bill is going in precisely the other direction than the European community, which inactive dreams of speeding up the implementation of the Green Agenda.
Given how easy and efficiently Donald Trump achieved almost all his goals, not giving the another side besides much in return, it is rather understandable that EU leaders decided to take revenge on him in the symbolic area. Recently, under French leadership, a kind of coalition of states has been formed that endanger to support Palestine as an independent state. Given the highly intimate relation between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, this postulate may seriously undermine the humor of the American leader, but it is improbable that it will find a real translation of the Palestinian situation. However, from the point of view of the leaders deciding on the face of the Union, it is not a problem due to the fact that they have already accepted that they are able to argue the United States mainly in the symbolic layer or rhetoric used.
The agreement concluded clearly shows that the European Union no longer has the right tools to defy the US and fulfil its eternal dream of independence. any of the media serving against Brussels even tried to represent Ursula von der Leyen as the author of a considerable success and a tough negotiator who managed to argue Trump. However, the EU's capitalisation is as evident as spectacular.
