The EU need not have yielded to the US on a trade deal

Europe giving in so easily to Trump's pressure marks a historic defeat of its 'ever closer union'

- ALBERTO ALEMANNO

When US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shook hands at Trump's Scottish golf resort last week, they weren't just announcing a new trade deal—they were formalizing Europe's economic and ideological surrender.

By agreeing to 15% tariffs on most exports to the US, the EU has capitulated to Trump's zero-sum world-view.

In doing so, it has abandoned the principles of multilateralism that have long guided global trade.

The economic consequences will likely be immediate and severe.

European exporters now face tariffs nearly ten times higher than the previous trade-weighted average of 1.6%.

Volkswagen alone has reported a $1.5 billion hit due to higher US tariffs.

But this is just part of the problem.

The real damage is what the EU agreed to pay for the 'privilege' of maintaining access to the US market: buying $750 billion worth of US energy over three years and investing another $600 billion in the US economy.

These staggering sums will inevitably divert resources from European development and innovation while legitimizing bilateral coercion over the multilateral rules-based World Trade Organization system.

As critics have rightly pointed out, this massive outflow comes directly at the expense of domestic investment.

What makes the EU's surrender especially troubling is how unnecessary it was.

As America's largest economic partner, the EU has considerable leverage.