Paul Krugman, “A letter to Europe”, 27th May 2025.

On Friday Donald Trump, claiming that he was unhappy with European negotiating tactics, announced his intention to impose 50 percent tariffs on goods imported from the European Union. A rate that high would virtually shut down trans-Atlantic trade.

[…] But let me offer some advice, to the Commission and the EU as a whole: Don’t try to appease Trump. You can’t make any substantive concessions, because your policies toward U.S. exports are already quite favorable. […]

Above all, Europe needs to overcome its learned helplessness and act like the great power it is. […] About trade: the EU and the US both have significant tariffs on a few of each other’s products, but until Trump went on his rampage average tariffs were very low — less than 2 percent — in both directions. […]

Yes, Europe sells us more goods […] than it buys. But we sell them a lot more services, […] Trump only talks abou