Trump's floundering handed Europe a trade victory in Washington

Washington

ON JULY 25, when US President Donald Trump appeared in front of the White House with Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, their joint statement and spoken remarks surprised many. The two sides agreed "to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods". It seemed like a remarkable U-turn for Mr Trump, who, until recently, was threatening the European Union with higher tariffs - and extolling the value of trade tariffs (which are essentially taxes on imported goods) more generally. He even called the EU a "foe" as recently as June.

Substantive follow-through on the joint US-EU statement would represent a major policy shift for the Trump administration. But this is no triumph for him; rather, he seems to have been outmanoeuvred by adroit European diplomats.