Europe and the US have been close allies for a very long time, with the US being one of EU’s top trading partners. In 2024, the US exported US$341.9 billion ($460 billion) worth of goods to the EU and imported US$555.6 billion worth of goods from the EU, making the trade deficit between them about US$213.6 billion, according to a Feb 2025 Investopedia article.
For decades, Europe’s political, economic and security architecture has leaned heavily on the transatlantic alliance with the US. However, with US President Donald Trump in office, Washington’s priorities are beginning to turn inwards and the European Union (EU) is recalibrating.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs have once again highlighted the presence of geopolitical tensions and uncertainty between the US and their trading partners and it seems that the erosion of trust supporting the global framework of trade has already begun.
