In an opinion piece on Monday, Georg Riekeles and Varg Folkman predicted that Washington will, as it draws back militarily, pull harder on other coercive levers to reshape Europe in the political direction the US wants. Not just on trade, either: as Mudde also noted, this could mean the US demanding protection for far-right free speech.

We can move from defensive crouch to position of strength but only if we use the economic cards we have against US coercion.

Europe is on a trajectory towards nothing less than “civilisational erasure”, the Trump administration claims in its extraordinary new National Security Strategy, a document that blames European integration and “activities of the European Union that undermine political liberty and sovereignty” for some of the continent’s deepest problems.

Varg Folkman wrote about the protectionist drift in the world. As others restrict access to their markets and the economy gets imbued with security concerns, the EU will follow suit - it has to. But are we ready for a protectionist EU?
 

The European Union is unlikely to soften its stance on digital regulations despite fresh tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, according to Varg Folkman, a policy analyst at the European Policy Center on Saturday.

Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. The EU should now steel itself and reject the terms imposed by Donald Trump

As the EU considers retaliating against steep US tariffs, the bloc will need a calibrated — and unified — response.

Varg Folkman believes that it's starting to be too late: "We have to face that we have been outcompeted by the Chinese. They are cheaper but also more technologically advanced."

As the new trade and economic security commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič will have to confront the threat of trade wars, sluggish EU economies and stiff global competition.

Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting on Thursday (14 May) with Chinese president Xi Jinping marks an important flash point in the long-running rivalry between the nations and their leaders.

The intensity of the rivalry has ebbed and flowed, with periods of animosity giving way to uneasy reproachment. As Trump heads to China, it’s unclear if the current stand-off between the countries will persist or not. 

The relationship between the United States and China across the Trump administrations has been characterised by a dual-track approach.

Read the op-ed here.

Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting on Thursday (14 May) with Chinese president Xi Jinping marks an important flash point in the long-running rivalry between the nations and their leaders.

The intensity of the rivalry has ebbed and flowed, with periods of animosity giving way to uneasy reproachment. As Trump heads to China, it’s unclear if the current stand-off between the countries will persist or not. 

The relationship between the United States and China across the Trump administrations has been characterised by a dual-track approach.

Read the op-ed here.