Trump’s trade reset exposes Europe’s hypocrisy on free markets

The Washington Times ^ | 11/18/2025 | Peter Morici

[E. Pluribus Unum]

President Trump is redefining the bargain between America and its allies by radically altering post-World War II Western security arrangements and the conditions that fostered market-driven globalization.

He has successfully secured commitments from Europe and Japan to contribute their necessary shares to the common defense against Russia, China and their axis allies and imposed asymmetrical deals that raise U.S. tariffs.

Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the legality of those tariffs, the president’s new arrangements are inherently unstable.

Among the accomplishments in creating the 1995 World Trade Organization was the extension of rules governing trade in services, similar to those governing trade in goods under the 1948 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The 1995 General Agreement on Trade in Services was anticipated to permit America’s most competitive sectors — finance, high tech and the creative media — to thrive without border taxes similar to tariffs on goods.

That expectation has been violated by arbitrary European Union regulations that target U.S. high-tech companies.

Governments across Europe, Canada, India and elsewhere have imposed digital services taxes that apply primarily to the largest global companies, American businesses such as Alphabet and Microsoft, on products created in their countries and exported into their markets.

By targeting primarily American high tech, those taxes effectively become import tariffs on U.S. services.

Canada, seeking to remove the Trump tariffs on goods, has abandoned its digital services tax; however, the trade deals reached with Britain and the EU don’t require similar action.

Mr. Trump may be threatening and bullying our partners into accepting what most call uneven economic bargains by imposing tariffs of 10% to 20% while demanding that they lower their taxes on our goods exports. However, by allowing them to retain their taxes on our most competitive services, these deals are hardly one-sided.

[central_va]

It is hard to keep reading when I see a made up excuse for one sided free trade to wit “market driven globalization”. Thats a real laugher.

[packrat35]

This exposed the fact that although many of us thought “free trade” was great. In fact, many countries still had tariffs on many US items while getting a free ride from us.

Those days are over till the next democrat gets in.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

Until President Trump 47, I did not know that Canada has 300% tariffs on many USA farm products.

When the next Ice Age returns, either Canada will be finally embracing hydrocarbons* or they will just move South.

* hydrocarbons - for those of you in Rio Linda, hydrocarbons is the correct term for fossil fuels.