"In mid-October, they appeared to be taking another turn for the worse when the White House announced that the US president would hold a new round of in-person talks with Vladimir Putin, this time under the auspices of Hungarian strongman Victor Orbán. The Budapest summit was quickly canceled, and Washington moved to impose sanctions on major Russian energy companies. Yet, once again, Brussel's charm-diplomacy offensive was revealed for what is: a teetering house of cards that could come crashing down."
"In late July, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen acceded to a deeply unbalanced trade deal with Washington designed to avert an open US-EU trade war. Many hoped that the agreement, signed at a Trump-owned golf course in Scotland and placing a 15 percent surcharge on exports to the United States without EU retaliation, would mark the beginning of a durable thaw in transatlantic relations."
"In another recent ask, the White House has demanded that Brussels exempt American corporations from the bloc's environmental rules and due-diligence standards, which it deemed "serious and unwarranted regulatory overreach" in a position paper recently submitted to EU officials. "We are not rolling back on any of our laws," a commission spokesperson said on October 9. However, in another sign of retreat, EU executives are reportedly preparing a "checklist" to underline how the bloc's ongoing deregulatory push can satisfy Trump's demands."
Europe has made repeated concessions on trade, defense, and technology regulation while the United States continues to press for additional advantages. A planned US meeting with Vladimir Orbán-hosted Putin threatened a further rift; the Budapest summit was canceled and Washington imposed sanctions on major Russian energy companies. Brussels accepted a trade deal imposing a 15 percent surcharge on EU exports to the United States without retaliation. The White House demanded exemptions for American firms from EU environmental and due-diligence rules, calling them "serious and unwarranted regulatory overreach." EU officials insist they will not roll back laws even as they prepare deregulatory checklists.
Read at The Nation
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