European Elites Wail: China Once Suffered "A Century of Humiliation," and Europe May Also Be About to Experience...
According to news from China News, after several months of U.S.-EU trade tug-of-war, the situation has temporarily come to an end with the EU making a significant concession. In the view of French President Macron, the European continent has become a "soft plum" in geopolitics, and there is no simple solution to this situation.
Surrender, submission, and humiliation seem to have become the synonyms for the U.S.-EU trade agreement. On August 1st, American columnist Lionel Laurent wrote an article pointing out that the humiliating tariff agreement reached with the United States did not make Europe stronger, but rather exposed the fragility of Europe's technological and military dependence on the United States. At the same time, more and more European elites are beginning to privately complain: historically, China was forced open by the powers, and now Europe may be heading towards its own "century of humiliation."
According to the agreement, the U.S. will impose a 15% tariff on EU goods; the EU will increase investment in the U.S. by 60 billion dollars, and will purchase U.S. military equipment as well as U.S. energy products worth 75 billion dollars. The article said that when the agreement was announced, Trump was smiling happily, while EU Commission President von der Leyen had to force a smile.
Although the arrival of this agreement temporarily eased the financial markets, the notion that U.S.-EU transatlantic relations have entered a "stable" new era seems increasingly hollow.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839259744344132/
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