Jasna Plevnik for China Daily: The EU has shown a willingness to appease Trump
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Jasna Plevnik for China Daily:The EU has shown a willingness to appease Trump
Trade tensions drive strategic shift of EU
Brussels focuses on autonomy through reduced US dependence
By YANG RAN and CHEN YINGQUN | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2025-06-28 07:25
Jasna Plevnik, president of the Geoeconomic Forum Croatia, said the EU has shown a willingness to appease Trump and finalize a deal by buying more US liquefied natural gas and defense equipment, and increasing investments in the US.
However, Washington is demanding more — including exemptions for US products from EU food safety regulations and value-added tax, Plevnik said.
"These have been sticking points …but the EU does not seem willing to concede in those fields and sacrifice its core standards," she said, while acknowledging that the bloc has no "strong card" to count on given its substantial geopolitical vulnerability.
Plevnik emphasized the role of eroded trust in this shift.
"The trans-Atlantic partnership, as it was before Trump, has gone for now. The economic coercion of the US and President Trump's vague strategic policy (toward) Europe do not look trustworthy," she said.
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