Philip Cunliff adds his own voice to the growing chorus declaring Trump a triumphant winner in his negotiations with the European Union. Cunliff argues that the deal undermines the very reason for having an economic bloc in Europe:

Looking to the future, the trade deal will not only gnaw away at the European Union’s industrial competitiveness with high energy costs and military dependence on US arms factories, it will eat away at the rationale for the European Union itself. Brexit Britain, supposedly destined for economic oblivion once it left the bloc in 2020, only endures a 10 percent baseline tariff in its trade with the United States, while also having the flexibility to sign large new trade deals with emerging economies such as India. As the burden of the US tariffs, LNG and compulsory arms purchases accumulates, member-states will increasingly ask themselves whether the relative advantage of remaining in the EU is outweighed by the benefits of leaving.

This deal is in part due to the leverage the United States has in this geopolitical moment, in Europe’s inability to deal with populism, and in our trade deficits. We don’t stand to lose as much as others in trade conflicts, and they can’t stand up weapons and energy industries given their politics, and they know it.