05/08/2025
In a recent Project Syndicate opinion piece, Professor Alberto Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby, offers a scathing critique of the European Union’s new trade deal with US President Donald Trump, arguing that it marks a moment of both economic and ideological capitulation. By agreeing to 15% tariffs on most EU exports – a dramatic increase on the previous average of 1.6% – the EU has not only conceded economically, but also undermined its long-standing commitment to multilateralism.
To preserve access to the US market, the EU has also committed to buying $750 billion worth of US energy and investing $600 billion worth of US investment, which will largely benefit the US defence and energy sectors, to the direct detriment of European innovation and autonomy.
Yet this capitulation could have been easily avoided. The EU had many tools at its disposal, including digital taxes and the anti-coercion instrument, but it did not use them. National divisions and fear of Trump’s retaliation led to a fragmented response and a weak negotiating position.
Professor Alemanno warns that this capitulation will have lasting consequences, weakening the EU’s credibility and reinforcing further bullying not only from the United States but also from other powers watching the situation closely.
If Europe’s leaders do not unite behind stronger institutions and resolutely confront external pressures, the continent risks becoming what Professor Alemanno calls a ‘prosperous yet powerless appendage of the American empire’.
Read the full article here.