Melania and Donald Trump, with Viktor Orban, 2018
Credit score: Gints Ivuskans – Shutterstock
How will Europe react to a second Trump time period? Already, we’re being warned of a extra protectionist financial mannequin from Donald Trump, together with tariffs being slapped on European imports getting into the US.
He claims placing an finish to the battle in Ukraine might be first on his agenda; this can be simply extra Trump bluster, however realistically, he’s most likely the one one that has a shot at doing it. No matter an impending Trump administration will appear to be, the European financial system will really feel the ripples.
On Friday, November 8, after months of anti-Viktor Orban (Hungarian president) rhetoric, EU representatives have been his visitors in Budapest for the EU summit. By no means has a ‘told-you-so’ grin ever been extra apparent than that on Orban’s face, as bearing in mind a brand new Trump period, the EU started to backtrack on the insurance policies of the final 4 years.
Europe backtracks on financial system in face of Donald Trump presidency
Gone is the intention to deindustrialise Europe with 3 p.c of the bloc’s GDP pledged to analysis and improvement; in comes a pledge to simplify and slim down paperwork throughout the bloc’s inside borders; in comes prioritising power resilience, in addition to deepening their transatlantic relationship with the US; and in addition, extra curiously, meals safety was a key issue within the discussions.
All of those have been key responses to the looming finish of the Biden administration, doubtlessly that means a return to favouring domestically produced items reasonably than imported merchandise, a radical change in course from a interval of Biden and Von der Leyen being two of the largest names on the world stage.
Does Donald Trump’s return actually spell catastrophe for Europe?
Following the US election consequence, European markets rallied at a time it was most wanted. The collapse in Germany’s coalition, coupled with Volkswagen reporting the largest set of manufacturing unit closures in its historical past, and the French financial system about to nosedive, the information surprisingly provided a glimmer of hope.
No matter one’s politics and no matter one’s emotions about Donald Trump, to date the impact has meant nothing however excellent news for the European financial system.