By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-12 09:01:12 | Updated at 2025-01-12 11:44:09
2 hours ago
Europe’s political class returned to work this week, greeted by a barrage of threats and taunts from across the Atlantic, a reminder that the congeniality that marked EU-US ties under Joe Biden’s presidency will not last the month.
During a news conference on Tuesday, president-elect Donald Trump aimed a series of broadsides at Europe.
He also raged against the bloc’s trade surplus with the US, saying: “With the European Union, we have a trade deficit of US$350 billion. They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they don’t take anything,” Trump said.
This culminated in a long, rambling interview on Thursday with the co-chair of the Alternative for Germany party Alice Weidel that was closely monitored by EU regulators to ensure it complied with digital rules on election interference.
Amid the noise, EU dealings with China have fallen down the agenda. Negotiations on tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles have been parked, with “minimal technical contact”, sources said.
