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Bloomberg
The global trade war is about to get worse, as the rules-based system of international commerce is poised to revert to an environment where the strong impose their will upon the weak, according to an internal memo circulated among European Union governments.
The disputes between the US and its closest trading partners are set to escalate “in the coming months, as more unilateral measures are threatened and imposed, leading, in some cases, to countermeasures, or to mercantilist deals,†according to the memo drafted by the European Commission, which manages trade policy for the entire bloc.
Our world will go back “to a trading environment where rules are only enforced where convenient and where strength replaces rules as the basis for trade relations,†according to the memo.
The dire warnings come as the exports-based European economic model risks crumbling under pressure from President Donald Trump, who has sought to narrow the US trade deficit at all costs, even if that means an unraveling of global rules.
After imposing punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Europe, Trump now threatens a 20 percent levy on European cars, in a measure that would deal a massive blow to the EU’s
auto industry.