EU/OBAMA/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When President Trump called a truce with the European Union over trade, the general outlines of his plan sounded familiar. It echoed of earlier negotiations — the ones started under President Barack Obama and shelved by Mr. Trump last year. Mr. Trump, in many ways, is taking credit for solving a crisis of his own making. After taking office, he criticized the deals of his predecessor and cut off trade talks with the European Union. He raised the stakes by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum, prompting retaliatory measures by the European Union. Then he stoked the tensions by calling Europe a ‘foe.’ Now, Mr. Trump, in hashing out an agreement on Wednesday [7-25-18] with president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is declaring victory. He said the two sides would work to lower tariffs and other trade barriers. They would reduce bureaucratic roadblocks to industrial goods flowing across the Atlantic, while ending conflicting regulations for drugs and chemicals. The United States was pursuing much the same under Mr. Obama through a deal called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. And the collapse of the deal still smarts for large segments of American and European business who had fervently hoped to create a trans-Atlantic version of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The European Union has repeatedly told the Trump administration that it would be happy to revive trade talks.”
–Ana Swanson and Jack Ewing, “Trump’s Trade Truce With Europe Has a Familiar Feel: It Mirrors Obama’s Path,” The New York Times online, July 26, 2018