Starting from midnight Eastern Time on the 12th, aircraft parts, wine and other goods from France and Germany have been imposed retaliatory tariffs by the United States, escalating the aviation subsidy dispute between Europe and the United States for more than ten years.
And France took the lead in the tax scandal caused by large American technology companies, which also made European and American economic and trade relations “like in the throat”. Analysts believe that it is difficult for the change of the U.S. government to bring hope for a settlement of the trade dispute between Europe and the United States, and the trade friction between the two sides will continue.
Since the United States submitted its first request for consultation to the WTO in October 2004, Europe and the United States have been involved in the whirlpool of competition between Airbus and Boeing’s two major aviation companies in the market.
European analysts believe that the long-standing protectionist practices of the United States make it slim to resolve contradictions.
Macro Analyst Dunbik: The reality is that the United States has implemented many protectionist practices behind the argument of advocating a free economy and competition, as before the Trump administration.
For a large European enterprise, it is even more difficult to gain a share in public procurement in the United States.
The trade relations between Europe and the United States can be said to be the old wounds that have not healed and new ones. Since 2019, France’s vigorously promoted digital service tax has gradually received a response at the EU level, and the United States has not hesitated to wield the tariff stick again.
Although the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on January 7 this year that the implementation of tariff retaliation against France was delayed on the grounds that the relevant “301 investigation” had not been completed as a whole, analysts believe that the digital service tax dispute is still a “time bomb” for European and American trade frictions, and it is difficult to reconcile the contradictions between the two sides in the short term.
Macro Analyst Dunbik: Because France has not created a large technology company itself, the only thing it can do is to tax its opponents.
In fact, since the last Obama administration, the United States has not in principle excluded taxation on technology giants, but what the United States wants to see is that it taxes first and let them start.
Dunbik believes that this clearly shows that although the United States has been “retreated” over the past four years, it still wants to be a rule-maker in emerging areas directly related to its interests, which is usually contrary to European interests.
Therefore, Dumblek admitted that Europe should not be too naive and “optimistic”, let alone unrealistic hope for the direction of the trade dispute between Europe and the United States after Biden took office.
Macro Analyst Dunbik: The United States will still follow the principle of “America first”, at least in economic and trade relations.
Now both parties in the United States believe that a balance should be re-established in economic and trade relations, which must involve the European Union, and Germany will bear the brunt, so trade frictions between Europe and the United States will still be serious.
