Losses & profits. Never short of imagination, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has just pulled out of his hat a new salvo of customs taxes against Europe. After the wine, the cheese, the anoraks and the folding knife blades, the American administration went up a notch, also targeting the butcher knives. But the main dish of this offensive concerns the two main export positions from Europe to the United States, aeronautics and automotive. On Friday, February 14, Washington announced a 10% to 15% increase in customs duties on imports of Airbus aircraft.
This measure is a response to the recognition by the World Trade Organization (WTO) of the reality of the subsidies received by Airbus for more than fifteen years. An endless quarrel that should experience a new twist in a few months, when the same WTO will rule on US subsidies to Boeing. Everyone sharpens their blades in preparation for the great battle.
New transatlantic agreement
Donald Trump’s activism can be explained by his willingness to weigh in on the new negotiations that should open between Europe and the United States on the signing of a free trade treaty. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a commitment in January to the Davos forum in Switzerland to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
This enthusiasm should be tempered when we remember the resounding failure in 2016, after years of negotiations, of the Transatlantic Free Trade Treaty (TTIP), fiercely pushed by the Obama administration. Given the country's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement of 2015 and the hypersensitivity of opinions to the issue of trade in the agrifood sector, we can doubt the possibility of a large-scale partnership concluded in a few month.
Never mind, for Trump, the customs weapon is the most convenient, even if it means being pragmatic, when the risk of collateral damage is too great. He has still not implemented his threat to tax German cars, and Airbus’s US factories will not be affected by the customs harassment.
No aircraft engines for Chinese Comac
This policy is close to that of its other major trading partner, China. With the same mixture of brutal announcements followed by painstaking negotiations. With two differences: on the one hand, the political staff is unanimous against the Middle Kingdom and, on the other hand, the objective is not that of a rebalancing of trade, but of a weakening of the 'opponent.
