Europe stands up for global trade rules
FOR anyone seeking to understand what America wants and how it hopes to achieve it, the random early-morning grumbles of a 71-year-old man are rarely the best place to start. Yet Donald Trump’s Twitter account has its uses for Europeans frustrated by his administration’s trade policy. For while the president is often erratic, on international trade he has been admirably consistent: the rules are stacked against America, deficits are a result of weakness, and previous presidents have been played for fools. And, as Mr Trump frequently tweets (March 10th: “If [the Europeans] drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on US products going in, we will likewise drop ours… If not, we Tax Cars etc. FAIR!”), he will turn to the bluntest of instruments to right these wrongs.
Like a dutiful cop, the European Union is taking down this evidence to use against Mr Trump. In March America slapped tariffs on steel and aluminium from abroad, arguing that cheap imports threatened national security by eroding the...