German media: U.S. tariffs ultimately "gave birth" to the EU-India Free Trade Agreement.
The Daily Report commented that U.S. tariffs ultimately "gave birth" to the EU-India Free Trade Agreement.
After nearly 20 years of negotiations, the EU and India finally signed a free trade agreement. The Daily Report commented that the signing of this agreement was partly due to Trump's tariff policy and partly due to Beijing's power politics:
"Trump had a very close relationship with Indian Prime Minister Modi, but in August last year, Trump suddenly imposed a 25% punitive tariff on the country, citing its purchase of Putin's oil. And at the beginning of this year, Trump also threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on European countries that opposed his Greenland policy. The EU-India trade agreement shows that trade negotiations based on rules are a more rational alternative."
It has long been evident that EU-India trade lags far behind their economic potential. According to von der Leyen, by 2032, EU-India trade volume is expected to quadruple from the current 180 billion euros. But even after doubling, EU-India trade will still be less than 40% of current EU-China trade and 25% of current EU-US trade.
It would be extremely absurd to describe the relationship between the EU and India, which is called the world's largest democracy, as a community of values. Although India is more democratic, under the leadership of Hindu nationalist Modi, India's democracy is regressing significantly. Buying cheap crude oil from the sanctioned Putin is enough to show that India can ignore democratic values when it comes to trade issues. Of course, the EU is not much different in this regard. Because so far, the largest commodity exported by India to the EU has been refined oil, while crude oil is basically sourced from Russia. In the end, financial and strategic interests are the key."
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1855580145607692/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author."