The Cards Europe Can Play On Trump

2025-03-17 06:17:39

(MENAFN- Asia Times) When someone threatens to put a 200% tariff on your wines, it is evident that you no longer have a convivial relationship with that country, let alone an alliance.

Donald Trump's attitude to Europe at least has the merit of clarity, distasteful though it is. He considers America to be better off operating alone, and thinks it is so powerful that, to borrow his own words,“it has all the cards.”

In response, Europe has two big advantages: it has other allies beyond America; and (counted as the European Union plus the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey) its Economy matches the United States in size*.

This gives Europe a lot of cards to use for its own long-term benefit and in bargaining with the Americans. The value of the continent's market is, in fact, rising thanks to the effect of Trump's own destructive tariff policies on the US dollar.

The US currency's strength against the euro in recent years exaggerated the wealth of the United States, a trend which is now going into reverse.

When thinking about how to respond to the new situation, it is important to recognize what has not changed as well as what is new. The external environment, to the west across the Atlantic and to the east from Russia, has changed radically. But the domestic environment has not, except perhaps in one important respect.

We can celebrate the revival of Franco-German collaboration and Britain's return to its geographical destiny as a European power, both in response to the external threat. But we must also recognize that the domestic politics of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and others remain deeply affected by feelings of anger over immigration and economic disappointment.

This is true of Britain, too, even though Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government is defended from it by a huge parliamentary majority.

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