A spokesman for the European Union has said that Republican Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election is likely to scuttle free trade discussions between America and the euro zone and that they won’t be resurrected in the near future.
Trump has already made it very clear he is against international trade pacts and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that was formulated under Barack Obama's presidency is now likely to be put firmly on the back burner.
Last week Mr Trump said America will withdraw from a planned trade deal involving Pacific-rim nations and will also renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“We expect the trade agreement to be put to the back of the line and remain there indefinitely,” said E.U. commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. “What happens when it is talked of again remains to be seen. Realistically speaking, the new administration in Washington seems to be quite against any kind of trade pact so a resumption of the TTIP looks a long way down the road.”
Interested observers say that even if Trump did have trade pacts on his mind then it’s likely the NAFTA and TPP discussions would be first on the table.
Trump is not the only one who is wary of trade deals between continents. The EU has come under pressure from many critics who insist the TTIP and other similar arrangements are purely for the benefit of multinational goliaths, who want to dodge tariffs and taxes.
“The global economy is simply not functioning for the good of everyone involved with the current international trade agreements we have in place,” said Matthias Fekl, the French trade minister who has slammed the TTIP publicly on many occasions.
“Even in countries who are traditionally much in favour of trade deals, we are seeing a change in sentiment. I see this as a sign that we cannot pretend everything is OK and continue as usual. We need to change the way we approach international trade.”
EU ministers have also echoed Mr Trump’s feelings regarding alleged dumping of cheap Chinese products into western markets. They say a tougher stance on China is in order and suggest higher duties, shorter investigation times and other weighting measures. Japanese investment and trading firm CITIC Tokyo International recently mentioned in the press that Chinese companies would do well to stem the flood of cheap imports before the European Union come down too hard on the communist giant.
