国际英语资讯:Spotlight: One year of turbulence leaves Europe-U.S. relations in question_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: One year of turbulence leaves Europe-U.S. relations in question

In January 2017, one of Trump's first acts was to pull out of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal with Asian partners. EU leaders then understood that the new president would be a difficult trade ally.

But European allies found the U.S. president more reluctant to compromise on international trade than expected.

While general consensus was reached at the G20, concessions were made for Trump's anti-globalization stance at the annual G20 summit in Hamburg in July 2017 with "legitimate trade defense instruments" recognized in the agreement reached at the summit, raising fears of punitive tariffs on trade.

Climate change policy also proved to be a major bottleneck for the Europe-U.S. relationship, with disagreements coming out of the annual G7 summit in Taormina, Sicily, in May 2017, and then again in Hamburg for the G20.

Trump declared in July 2017 that he was unilaterally pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, claiming it was a "bad deal", despite heavy lobbying from his European counterparts to stay in the broad-reaching and ambitious pact.

EUROPEAN DESTINY

With transatlantic relations under strain, European leaders responded in 2017 with increased measures to reinforce European capacities on defense and other issues, in order to reduce reliance on U.S. support.

Following the G7 summit, in which Trump's uncompromising position led to dissatisfying results for the EU, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was time for Europeans "to take destiny into their own hands."