Donald Trump on the verge of winning his trade war

When Donald Trump decided in early spring to suspend his unilateral customs duties in haste, after causing a financial panic, the Financial Times made this sneering comment about the US president in early May, calling him a "TACO" ( Trump always chickens out ): "Trump always chickens out" in trade negotiations. The expression had infuriated the head of state – "that's a nasty question," he said in the Oval Office of the White House after a journalist asked him about it – and made the entire planet laugh. On July 15, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) columnist Greg Ip made a less humorous but sharp demonstration: "Forget TACO. Trump is winning his trade war."

The issue is not to defend Mr. Trump's trade policy – the WSJ called it "the stupidest war in history" – but to analyze whether the president is achieving the objectives he set himself, as Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, is due to meet the American head of state in Scotland on Sunday, July 27, to try to secure an agreement before the August ¹ deadline if she wants to avoid unilateral customs duties of 30% for Europe.

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