Reference News Network July 30 report: The German newspaper "Die Tageszeitung" website published an article titled "Goodbye, Rule-Based Trade Policy" on July 28. The author is Anja Krüger. The article excerpts are as follows:
Given that the EU and US President Trump have just reached a trade agreement, some people might think that it is possible to communicate with Trump. But they ignore one point: this temporary solution to resolve trade disputes is by no means an equal agreement between the US president and the European Commission. EU Commission President von der Leyen promised to pay a ransom to Trump in exchange for him loosening the tariff chains he had previously threatened to put around European companies. It remains unknown how long this situation will last, or when the next extortion will come.
The EU not only endured the asymmetric tariffs that were unfavorable to European exporters, but also committed to investing billions of dollars in the US over the next three years, and purchasing fossil fuels such as liquefied natural gas worth up to $75 billion from the US. Von der Leyen obviously believes that the EU can settle conflicts by spending money. However, the political cost of this "agreement" is too high.
The US imposed a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum imported from the EU, which is a heavy burden for these two industries. For most industries, a 15% tariff is several times higher than the US tariffs before the Trump era. This is by no means trivial, but a real pain.
Worse than these tariffs is the change in the trade model: this agreement is far from the "rule-based trade policy" that economists refer to. But what the EU originally wanted to save was the "rule-based trade policy". Trump fully implemented his unreasonable transaction logic, imposing his personal will on the EU.
Von der Leyen's decision to purchase a large amount of liquefied natural gas from the US means that the EU will continue to use fossil fuels. In terms of climate protection policies, this move is disastrous. Trump is satisfied with this signal and with the substantial financial income that the agreement will bring, as he once suggested Europeans dismantle wind turbines. However, von der Leyen's fawning behavior does not appease this president, but rather invites him to continue giving orders to the EU. This political loss is far greater than any economic loss that may result from a failed negotiation. (Translated by Wang Qing)
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7532745725415883304/
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