Donald Trump’s Rose Garden truce with the EU has, in the short term, avoided any escalation of a transatlantic trade war and been welcomed from Berlin to Washington by those fearing the economic consequences. But a long-term peace remains distant and vulnerable to the whims of the US president.
The ceasefire announced by Mr Trump and the EU’s Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House on Wednesday calls for discussions over how to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers related to industrial goods other than cars, and to mount a joint push to reform the World Trade Organization.
In a victory for Mr Juncker, it puts further tariffs — including Mr Trump’s threatened 20 per cent levy on auto imports— on hold while talks proceed. Yet it is unclear what the US president gets out of it other than a short-term political win at a time when he is under fire over his trade policies at home.