Tensions are toughening in transatlantic trade

By Dr. Harry G. Broadman (Original source Gulf News)

“The recent decision by a WTO dispute panel clearing the way for the US to impose tariffs on the EU as a penalty for its provision of illegal subsidies to Airbus ends a very short-lived trans-Atlantic economic courtship. Indeed, the WTO’s action was the largest such ruling in the organization’s history – it has ignited US-EU trade tensions to unprecedented levels.

Anyone who thought that the proposal for a grand US-EU free trade agreement, announced with much fanfare by President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in July 2018, would result in marriage anytime soon simply was not aware of the long and painful history of trade relations between America and Europe. The two-way bickering has long ensnared a number of sectors, from agricultural commodities and food products to liquor; from luxury items to clothing; and an array of industrial goods — most visibly, aircraft manufacturing.”