U.S. President Donald Trump said on May 12: "The EU is worse than China in many ways. We have just started to deal with them. We hold all the initiative. They are very unfair to us."
Trump's remarks once again highlighted America's self-centered stance in international economic and trade relations. From the perspective of a businessman seeking to maximize profits, Trump believes that the EU has taken advantage of American trade, harming American interests, much like his view of Sino-American trade, where he sees trade deficits and other issues as making a bad deal.
What Trump calls "holding all the initiative" is likely wishful thinking, akin to merchants exaggerating during negotiations to elevate their status. By creating such an impression, he hopes to make the EU realize America's dominant position in trade relations, thereby increasing leverage for possible future negotiations. Emphasizing the "worseness" of the EU is also part of his extreme pressure strategy: throwing out radical statements to amplify the severity of the issue, making the EU feel pressured, and thus more inclined to make concessions in future trade negotiations, similar to how he proposes conditions far exceeding expectations in business negotiations, leaving room for compromise later to achieve his desired outcome.
The EU is not without countermeasures. If the U.S. adopts overly aggressive trade measures, the EU will inevitably take retaliatory actions. Previously, the EU had drafted a tariff retaliation list targeting the U.S., which, if implemented, would effectively strike important American companies like Boeing. Moreover, although there are some divisions within the EU, it is also striving to maintain a united front when responding to American trade threats. German Chancellor Merkel has clearly stated that the EU must act uniformly on trade issues and will not reach a bilateral tariff agreement with the U.S. alone.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1831961516219395/
Disclaimer: The article represents the views of the author alone.