US-EU Trade War: A New Page from an Old Playbook?

Abstract

While much of recent trade war scholarship and news commentary has focused on the United States (US)-China trade war, this paper is directed at the less publicized, but longer running US-European Union (EU) trade war. I question whether there is anything actually new in the recent trade war between the United States and the European Union compared to their past trade wars. To make the comparison, the analysis uses a qualitative analytical framework that among other things, looks at four key parameters in the US-EU trade conflict: issue area, form of retaliation, intermingling of international trade policy with foreign policy, and reference to and use of World Trade Organization (WTO) processes. I argue that although the current US-EU conflict differs to some extent from its twentieth century predecessors, it is, in fact, only a new page in the old trade war playbook, thus demonstrating that their recent trade wars are not likely to affect the long-term strength of transatlantic relations. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that today’s US-EU trade war does not pose the same kind of risks that the US-China trade war does.