EU's rational response to tariff attack should be to look eastward

Incoming German chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed concern over the protectionist trade policies of US President Donald Trump. In a revealing interview published by Handelsblatt on Saturday, Merz suggested that Trump's aggressive tariff strategies could trigger a financial crisis.

The Christian Democratic Union leader who is poised to become Germany's next chancellor in early May expressed alarm at the global economic situation, something that is both timely and warranted. Earlier this month, Trump signed two executive orders invoking "reciprocal tariffs", under which all steel and aluminum imports faced a baseline tariff of 25 percent, with an additional 20 percent for European products. In response, the European Union slapped 25 percent retaliatory tariffs on €21 billion ($23.94 billion) worth of goods from the United States. Although the EU suspended these countermeasures after Trump agreed to delay some of his tariffs, this temporary pause does little to restore confidence.

The US administration's track record is defined by unpredictability — unilateral decisions, erratic reversals, inflammatory announcements, and a tendency to weaponize uncertainty, a pattern of behavior that erodes the foundations of trust and stability the global economy relies on.