Europe’s Season of Humiliation Will Last for a While
France’s Emmanuel Macron says the continent is seen as a geopolitical pushover. There’s no easy fix.
The European Union's trade deal with the US looks even worse now than when it was unveiled on Sunday.
Photographer: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images EuropeThe European Union’s tariff deal with the US — roundly criticized across the Old Continent as tantamount to surrender, submission and humiliation — somehow looks worse today than when it was unveiled on Sunday by a beaming Donald Trump and a rather less effusive Ursula von der Leyen.
While the final levy of 15% imposed on EU goods came as a relief for financial markets, claims of a new era of “stability” for transatlantic relations increasingly ring hollow. Pharmaceutical products are still at risk of a US investigation and there are conflicting narratives on where 50% steel tariffs go from here, according to Bloomberg Economics. The Trump administration could come back for more if it deems the EU in breach of pledges of mammoth investments, including $750 billion of energy products. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday sounded eager to rehash grievances over how the EU regulates tech firms such as Meta Platforms Inc.