Trump and Protectionism: Tariffs on the European Union
Published on June 5, 2025
Trump has delayed the implementation of tariffs on the European Union until July.
Good call with @POTUS.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 25, 2025
The EU and US share the world’s most consequential and close trade relationship.
Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively.
To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9.
The majority of the population, including surely you, agrees that Trump's measures are totally stupid: protectionism doesn't work.
Protectionism, a Brief Introduction
Protectionism is an economic policy that consists of increasing tariffs and other taxes on imported products to favor local production and jobs. This policy is often criticized for being ineffective and having harmful effects on the global economy.
Let's take steel as an example, which Trump wants to tax at 50%.
Steel is a material necessary for many industries, many countries consider it critical to have internal production to not be dependent on other countries. Except for the European Union, because our bureaucrats like to sabotage our continent.
At first glance, one could say it's a good thing to tax steel from elsewhere. We make foreign steel more expensive, thus making our local production more competitive. And it creates jobs too!
Except it's not that simple, the price of steel becomes higher and all industries using this material will have to pay more for it. The local appliance manufacturer will buy their steel more expensively to make their washing machines. They will therefore have to sell it more expensively — thus becoming less competitive against foreign manufacturers who don't pay taxes on steel.
And when you're not competitive, you go bankrupt.
For one job saved in the metallurgical industry thanks to our super tax, it's one job eliminated in appliance manufacturing.
And as mentioned earlier, steel is present in many products, so more industries will be impacted: automotive (car chassis), aeronautics, construction (metal beams in buildings, bridges, etc.), energy (wind turbines, pipelines), transportation (trains, rails, etc.), shipbuilding, etc. Almost all industries are dependent on steel.
By wanting to save one industry, we wreck many others.
In short, this was to briefly explain protectionism, a trade is win-win, not a zero-sum game.
The baker doesn't care about the 200 baguettes on his counter. He wants to get rid of them to make money and pay his bills. The customer is happy to eat his baguettes and the baker is happy to pay his electricity bill.
Everyone wins.
I won't dwell more on protectionism, others talk about it much better than me and a simple question to ChatGPT will give you a more complete answer.
Tariffs: When Others Do It It's Bad, When We Do It It's Good
The problem with protectionism isn't that it's bad. That, everyone knows as we saw in the first part.
The problem is that our opinion on it diverges totally depending on whether we're the ones applying it or others are applying it.
There's good protectionism and bad protectionism. When it's others it's not good. When it's us it's good.
We hear everyone criticizing Trump's stupid taxes, and rightly so! All the media rise up, not a single one supports Trump's protectionist policy.
Yet, everyone was quite silent when the European Union implemented the carbon tax at the borders.
Isn't it the same thing though? Why this difference in media treatment?
If I ask your opinion on the free trade treaty on Mercosur that caused so much debate in recent months, I'm convinced you'll tell me it's different, that we shouldn't let anything into the territory and that we must maintain food independence. And politicians think like you.
76% of French people say they oppose the free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union and Mercosur, including 39% very opposed and 37% rather opposed. Conversely, 24% are in favor, including 19% rather favorable and 5% very favorable source.
Why do you think it's good when we act this way in Europe but it's bad when Trump does the same across the Atlantic?
If I ask your opinion on the taxes added by the European Union to Chinese cars to safeguard our industry, I'm convinced you think it's a good thing. You'll also tell me it's different, that it's "economic sovereignty".
But what's the difference between economic sovereignty and protectionism?
None, it's exactly the same thing, except one is viewed positively and the other negatively.
You revolt when Trump implements taxes on the German automotive sector but not when the EU does the same on the Chinese automotive sector.
Did you get outraged when the EU applied anti-dumping taxes on Chinese steel?
Did you see the media criticize this measure? Or on the contrary, like in the cited article, did they have a positive opinion?
The net number of protectionist measures is 2.5 times higher in 2018 (around 40,000) than in 2010 (around 15,000). The country by far most targeted by protectionist measures is China, followed by Germany, France, Italy and Canada. source
Conclusion
This is the big dilemma of protectionism: this lack of discernment. The danger isn't protectionism itself — this risk is known.
The real danger is this totally different opinion on protectionism when it's applied for us versus against us. It's always well viewed from the inside but you have to be on the outside to grasp the negative impact of tariffs.
The consequences are the same though. But humans rarely realize this.
Be consistent in your ideas, stop saying that for us it's different. Or else assume it fully and support Trump's measures.