As Europe Flirts With China, America Must Double Down on Trade Discipline
By James Daley | Opinion | Idaho News Co
Europe is on the verge of making a mistake the United States has spent the last decade trying to correct. As President Trump tightens the screws on China with sweeping tariffs, European leaders are signaling a dangerous willingness to absorb the overflow of cheap, subsidized Chinese goods that can no longer reach American shores. This is not just a European problem. It’s a strategic and economic threat to the United States and to the workers and industries that have just begun to recover from decades of bad trade policy.
The European Union says it is concerned about overcapacity and product dumping from China. Yet at the same time, some EU member states are rolling out red carpets for Chinese electric vehicle factories and negotiating in hushed tones to lower barriers. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is cozying up to President Xi. German automakers are lobbying against higher tariffs. And across the Channel, Britain’s leaders are preaching “respectful relations” with Beijing while chasing investment.
Let’s be honest. We’ve seen this movie before. I spent decades in the finance world in Boston, and I saw firsthand how entire sectors of the U.S. economy were gutted by the offshoring wave. Textiles, electronics, machine tools—all went overseas while policymakers insisted globalization would lift all boats. What it lifted were the profits of multinational corporations and the GDP of China, not the living standards of working Americans.
Now that Trump is finally holding Beijing accountable, Europe appears ready to play the useful idiot, plugging the market gap and keeping China’s industrial machine humming. This undercuts the leverage America is trying to build. It sends the wrong message to a regime that has spent the past 20 years flouting fair trade norms and stealing intellectual property.
Europe is free to pursue its own path. But that doesn’t mean we should follow them over the cliff. America must double down on its trade discipline. That means sticking with tariffs, even when Wall Street winces. It means re-shoring critical industries, tightening rules on foreign subsidies, and investing in the domestic supply chain. And it means warning our European allies that if they want to keep undermining our trade strategy, there may be consequences in other areas of cooperation.
The average American doesn’t care about summit handshakes or diplomatic communiqués. We care about whether our farms, factories, and families can compete on a level playing field. Idaho knows this better than most. We grow, we build, and we work hard—and we expect our leaders to protect that effort.
Europe may flirt with Beijing. But America can’t afford to. It’s time to stay the course!
About the Author: James Daley is a retired financial executive originally from Boston. After decades working in global markets, he now resides in Idaho with his wife and their dog. He spends his weekends with his grandchildren and remains an active voice in economic and policy discussions through his opinion writing.
