It's more complicated than it seems

The tariff agreement the European Union reached with Trump reflects American supremacy, while Donald Trump seeks to reclaim America's lost greatness. It's somewhat contradictory, but the entire redesign of the new international order seems disorderly and chaotic. We can blame the US president for this incongruity, but it's not even new. The post-World War II scenario was far from foreseeable, and even the containment strategy suggested by George Kennan was revised and adapted during the Cold War years. The truth is that, Trump's aside, the US is definitely more concerned with dealing with China in Asia than with Russia in Europe. The Americans will make tactical mistakes in Asia (pulling the rug out from under allies in the region brings them closer to China), but the strategy is unlikely to change even with the Democrats back in the White House.

As a mirror of American supremacy, the EU's agreement with Trump reveals how well Brussels has grasped the shifting balance of power. After decades of lower economic growth than the US, Europeans are beginning to suffer a decline in quality of life compared to Americans and, more recently, to some citizens in the Far East, where (and anyone who visits these places can attest to this) there is a better understanding of what life will be like in the future.

However, at the same time, life in Europe has aspects we Europeans couldn't imagine living without. Chris Arnade is an American photographer who once worked in the Wall Street financial markets until he decided to travel the world, photographing and writing about it. Last month , he wrote for the Free Press about who lives better, North Americans or Europeans . His choice of the latter is an interesting reference to our appreciation of public space and, consequently, its diversity and unpredictability, particularly in cafes (Steiner would agree with him on this), which is nothing more than the result of the lesser importance we place on the individual, unlike what happens in the US. I'm not interested in discussing whether Arnade is right or not, especially since the explanation for the phenomenon also stems from a diverse past in Europe, contrary to the North American standardization created in a shorter period of time. It's worth noting that things are what they are, and they end up being more complicated than they seem at first glance.

Thus, perhaps the deal the EU struck with Trump will also be a defeat for America. Americans will pay more for European products and will spend more money to have goods manufactured in the United States that could otherwise come from the Old Continent. Workers, companies, capital, and machinery will be used to produce what America will no longer import, rather than what it will no longer export. The result is a waste of resources and a loss of quality. But that's their problem, not ours. Ours is to accept the new reality of maintaining the lives of our coffee shops while dealing alone with Russia. With the tragedy. It will be difficult, but not necessarily impossible.

Not only is Russia weaker than China, but European states also have the means (if they so choose) to deter Russia without the US taking the lead. Just as Washington doesn't want to waste time with Europe to focus on Beijing, it's good for Brussels to resolve its misunderstandings with the US to focus on Moscow. In this sense, the tariff agreement the EU reached with Trump is positive. Are we better off than before? No. But certainly better than we expected in April. The truth is, things are a bit more complicated than they seem at first glance. Which is certainly an advantage, because, being complicated is also unpredictable, and therefore unexpected and surprising. It's like walking into a European café: you never know what you'll find.