Trump’s intransigence on trade, climate strains US-Europe relations
Once one of the most privileged relationships, the ties between Europe and the US saw a turbulent 2017 with the election of Donald Trump as US president.
Questions remain as to how the Europe-US relationship will be able to function in 2018, and to what degree European leaders can adapt to the changes in order to be self-sufficient, while retaining hope that differences can be repaired.
When Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017, European observers anticipated changes in transatlantic relations, but perhaps not the degree of disruption that would follow. Europe and its American partner have disagreed on a variety of fundamental issues such as military engagement, international trade and climate change policy.
It began even prior to Trump’s inauguration, when in early January 2017 the thenpresident-elect sharply criticized NATO, calling it “obsolete” and claiming European partners were not paying their fair share.
“23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying,” Trump said in May on the occasion of his maiden summit with NATO, adding that they owe “massive amounts” and hinting that the US may not honor the organization’s mutual defense clause if defense spending didn’t increase among allies.
Trade was an issue as well. Trump slammed Germany for maintaining a “massive trade deficit” with the US, saying it was “very bad” and promised things would change.
In January 2017, one of Trump’s first acts was to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with Asian partners. EU leaders then understood that the new president would be a difficult trade ally.
But European allies found the US president more reluctant to compromise on international trade than expected.
While general consensus was reached at the G20, concessions were made for Trump’s anti-globalization stance at the G20 summit in Hamburg in July with “legitimate trade defense instruments” recognized in the agreement reached at the summit, raising fears of punitive tariffs on trade.
Climate change policy also proved to be a major bottleneck for the Europe-US relationship, with disagreements coming out of the annual G7 summit in Taormina, Sicily, in May, and then again in Hamburg for the G20.
Trump declared in July that he was unilaterally pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, claiming it was a “bad deal,” despite heavy lobbying from his European counterparts to stay in the broad-reaching and ambitious pact.
With transatlantic relations under strain, European leaders responded in 2017 with increased measures to reinforce European capacities on defense and other issues, in order to reduce reliance on US support.
Following the G7 summit, in which Trump’s uncompromising position led to dissatisfying results for the EU, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was time for Europeans “to take destiny into their own hands.”
“The times when we could fully rely on others are to some extent over,” Merkel said, signaling with this momentous phrase that Europe-US relations were undergoing major shifts, and that Europe would respond with developing selfreliance.