Chorus of Dismay Grows Over EU–US Trade Deal
Just when European leaders thought they had reached a point of agreement with Trump, he pulled them back into the mud last week. After Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised “certainty in uncertain times” and the parties published a much-awaited Joint Statement on their earlier handshake trade deal, Trump returned with new tariff threats. The subject of his ire was once again EU tech regulations.
In parallel, the Union’s top trade official, Sabine Weyand, disclosed to German media that the trade negotiations had not really been negotiations at all. The EU was under immense pressure to “stabilise transatlantic relations,” said Weyand.
Trump’s antics, however, may be starting to erode the willingness in the EU institutions to swallow the deal. As his coercive blustering continues, the chorus against giving in to additional US demands is growing.
Two of the Commission’s Executive Vice-Presidents, Stéphane Séjourné and Teresa Ribera, were quick to speak out against Trump’s threat, with the latter stating that the EU “cannot be subject to the will of a third country.” French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly told French ministers that the EU should retaliate against the US, and a series of MEPs renewed their attacks on the deal, with one calling it “a humiliation and a surrender.”
The renewed trade aggression from Trump was utterly predictable. The deal left much uncertainty, and it was always likely that when Trump sensed weakness, he would quickly return for another bite of the EU.
While the fighting words from EU Commissioners and MEPs are nice, there are still no signs that anything of substance will change in how the EU approaches Trump. Macron’s words aside, EU leaders do not want a transatlantic trade war.
Had the will been there, the Commission could have triggered the investigatory phase of the Anti-Coercion Instrument in a show of resolve. Instead, it’s pushing through legislation, cementing the EU concessions from the trade deal in law.
Tomorrow, EU lawmakers will grill Weyand about the deal in an “extraordinary meeting.” Harsh words will undoubtedly fall, but in the end, the resistance may amount to little more than sound and fury, signifying nothing. For European leaders, the stakes are simply too high for the deal to run aground. Whatever the EU decides at this moment, there needs to be awareness and preparation for the next time, as this is Trump's playbook.
Varg Lukas Folkman is a Policy Analyst in Europe’s Political Economy programme.
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