By: Matthew Lynn / The Daily Telegraph
Translation: Telegrafi.com
The language was typically varied, and historians more adept at the post-World War II period could quibble over some details. One thing remains indisputable, however. When President Trump claimed that the European Union was created specifically to “stick” to the United States — and that this is why he plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods shipped from the EU to the American market — he was not wrong.
It is true that EU President Ursula von der Leyen may never have uttered those words, as her predecessors did. But that has often been the intention. Over the past 50 years, a succession of EU leaders, with the French president usually at the helm, have promoted the idea that the bloc’s primary mission was to be a rival to the United States.
We can see this in a variety of policies, large and small. Airbus-was created to challenge the dominance of Boeingin the commercial aircraft market and has been quite successful. The common market was created to match the size and power of the 52 American states. The EU regulatory system was conceived to set global standards, with the belief that rules made in Brussels were better than those that could be drawn up in Washington.
After all, the euro was created specifically to challenge the power of the dollar and eventually replace it in the global financial system. In fact, former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, when he was De Gaulle's Finance Minister, coined the term "excessive privilege" when describing the benefits that flowed from controlling the global reserve currency, and devoted much of his career to trying to end that privilege.
The list goes on and on. For decades, the EU's biggest supporters have seen the union as an economic and geopolitical rival to the US and, through tariff barriers, punitive regulations and hostile trade policies, have sought to bring Washington down a notch.
But there has always been a flaw in this ambition: it hasn't quite worked. While the EU may have matched the US in size - and has spared no effort to protect its industries from foreign competition - it has never come close to matching the United States in entrepreneurial dynamism or innovative energy.
In fact, Trump might want to take a closer look at all the tariffs Brussels imposes and ask whether they are really a good idea. By trying to retaliate against Europe, he could end up copying one of its biggest mistakes.
And yet, the president's overall argument is rightly correct. The EU has been openly trying to "stick it to" the US for decades. No one can complain if someone in the White House has finally noticed this - and decided to take action about it. /Telegraph/
