Much like those in Europe who have been expressing their displeasure with Trump’s decision to levy tariffs on them despite their please, such as the EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau is lashing out against Trump’s foreign economic policy and threatening a retaliatory response.
France, and the EU, have been getting a tough political and economic experience from Washington lately. The biggest issues, and the ones driving the wedge that is presently making a rift in the relations between the long time partners and allies on both sides of the Atlantic, are those of America’s withdrawal from the JCPOA Iran nuke deal, which included the reimposition of nuclear related sanctions on Iran, and the trade tariffs that Trump levied back in march, to which the exemption that the EU has been enjoying has just run out.
Back in March, US President Donald J. Trump decided to levy tariffs on those of its trade partners who were ‘treating us unfairly’. Those tariffs included a 10% tariff on imported aluminum and 25% on steel imports, perceiving those of the entire globe.
But some countries, including the EU, Canada, Mexico, and others, managed to secure a brief exception to those measures, as well as harsh rhetoric from Trump about the EU’s nature being that of ripping America off, which was extended for May.
Donald Trump built no small part of his political brand railing against Chinese industry—so much so that The Huffington Post once published a supercut of the president sneering the word “China” dozens and dozens of times, for three full minutes.
Trump wanted a reform of the WTO, and now he is not alone. French President Emmanuel Macron, who was so cordial with Trump just a few weeks ago, is pushing for a WTO for different reasons than those of Trump. Trump wants to change the rules to favor America, while Macron is looking to improve the rules to hinder trade war activities and the economic aggression being waged by his American partner.
The US has broken yet another agreement, this time its agreement not to impose trade tariffs on China.
The decision to employ further tariffs right after abating the escalating situation that was brewing between the US isn’t the most tactful and wise decision to make.
It inevitably means a response by China, to be perceived as a violation of America’s agreement together with countermeasure tariffs imposed by China on US exports.
The Global Times reports:
With steel and aluminum tariff excemptions set to expire, Europeans continue to wonder why Trump is applying tariffs on them over claims of national security, as Europe presents no security threat to America.
They also wonder why these tariffs are being applied to them, and not just China, who is allegedly engaging in unfair business practices, a subject on which both the EU and the US agree.
The European Foreign Affairs Council is set to convene in Brussels on Monday to assess the present circumstances of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear development programs following Trump’s American withdrawal from the accord.
European leaders have been relentlessly expressing their desire to maintain the deal without the US and as long as Iran keeps up its end of the bargain, and to do whatever is necessary in order to preserve it.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Beijing this week gives us some important details about what is moving the cogs of her foreign diplomatic and trade relations agenda. Merkel has several reasons, both politically and economically to make this journey.
First of all, China and Germany are both signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, and both parties wish to see it preserved against Donald Trump’s American withdrawal and reimposition of crippling economic sanctions against the Middle Eastern country of 80 million.
In Sochi, Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to boost their relations as well as to identify further areas of mutual interest. India seems also to be keen on potentially doing business within the EAEU, of which Russia is a member, further strengthening their trade relationship. Also on the agenda was security, having to do with establishing a security structure within the region.
Deutsche Welle reports:
