06-22-2018, 02:13 PM
In a conversation that foreshadowed the fractures that emerged at this weekend’s tense G-7 meeting, President Donald Trump reportedly told French President Emmanuel Macron in April that he viewed the EU as “worse than China” when it came to trade issues. According to a report by Axios on Sunday, the conversation took place at the White House on April 24, during Macron’s state visit. When Macron suggested working together on trade to resolve the “China problem,” Trump reportedly said the European Union was a worse problem, and “then went on a rant about Germany and cars.”
Trump reportedly told Macron that EU was ‘worse than China’ - MarketWatch
It is indeed true that the US has a deficit with the rest of the world - it imports more than it exports, to the tune of about half a trillion dollars. President Trump gave a larger figure of $800 billion, which is the deficit for goods only. It's partly offset by a surplus in services.
G7: Fact checking Trump's tweets about trade - BBC News
International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde issued a stark warning on global trade disputes on Monday, citing the fallout between the U.S. and its allies at last week's Group of Seven (G-7) summit. “The clouds on the horizon that we have signaled about six months ago are getting darker by the day, and, I was going to say, by the weekend,” Lagarde told reporters in Berlin, according to Bloomberg News.
IMF chief warns issues warning on trade disputes amid fallout from G-7 | TheHill
The U.S. has a surplus of $20 billion with China and $1.4 trillion with the rest of the world. That’s not a normal trade balance, of course, where the U.S. registered an annual deficit of more than $330 billion with China and about $550 billion with the world last year, but an "aggregate sales surplus" which measures both direct trade and the sales of multinational companies, according to research by Deutsche Bank AG.
The $1.4 Trillion U.S. ‘Surplus’ That Trump’s Not Talking About - Bloomberg
The European Union fought back on Friday against the Trump administration’s tariffs, slapping penalties on an array of American products that target the president’s political base, like bourbon, motorcycles and orange juice. The European counterattack on $3.2 billion of goods, a response to the administration’s measures on steel and aluminum imports, adds another front to a trade war that has engulfed allies and adversaries around the world. China and Mexico have already retaliated with their own tariffs, and Canada, Japan and Turkey are readying similar offensives. The risk of escalation is high since Mr. Trump has promised even more tariffs.
Europe Strikes Back Against Trump Tariffs as Global Trade War Escalates - The New York Times
Ironically, the tariffs could have a small — if somewhat short-lived — upside for Europe. Local steel and aluminum may eventually fall in price because producers in countries like Russia or Japan will divert supplies that otherwise would have gone to the United States, creating a glut in the market. That would be bad for steel producers but good for machinery makers and other companies that use a lot of steel, potentially giving them an edge over their American competitors in overseas markets.
Europe Strikes Back Against Trump Tariffs as Global Trade War Escalates - The New York Times