2 April 2025 will go down in history, of that there is no doubt. US President Trump and his team insist this is because it was, as they termed it, “Liberation Day” from the global intertwined trade system, in which the US imposed shockingly high tariffs on all its trading partners, excluding Russia and Belarus. Nearly every other state, notably all the US trading partners, appear to be appalled by this move — partly because it will harm each of them and their people, and partly because they find it incredible that the US, the leader of the free world and the global trading system for the past eight decades, appears to be the one destroying it.
The immediate effects of the tariff decision have quickly become obvious: global markets plunged, but especially those in the US; all states and regions are contemplating reactions and retaliations, with China quickly retaliating with its own high tariffs on US goods. And above all, the credibility of the US has taken a big hit. Indeed, if there is a title to the Trump playbook it seems to be How to Disrupt the World While Undermining Yourself, Potentially Strengthening Your Opponents and Alienating Your Allies.
To discuss the tariffs, the playbook, the effects and the state of the global economy, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Rebecca Christie, Senior Fellow at Bruegel, the Brussels economic think tank, and Lauren Gloudeman, Director of the China programme at Eurasia Group. In a searching conversation, they clarify much about the tariff shock, the options open to the EU and China, the effects in the US, and potentials for the future.
This episode was recorded on 3 April 2025
Chapters
- A new global trade world launched by Trump?
- How US tariffs impact China, EU and global markets?
- Are Trump’s tariffs a strategy or a gamble?
- China’s and Europe’s responses to Trump
- What next for global trade?
Mentions
- The Sound of Economics – Rebecca’s podcast’s most recent episode (3 April)
- Episode “Tariffs and trade wars” with Sylvia Chen & Sara Nordin
- “Did tariffs contribute to the Great Depression? Here’s what to know”, NPR
- 1930s tariff war
- Trump calculations
Follow our guests
- Lauren Gloudeman LinkedIn, Eurasia Group page
- Rebecca Christie LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Bluesky, Bruegel page
Follow us
- Instagram @women_leaders_podcast
- Ilana Bet-El
Credits
- Production: Florence Ferrando
- Music: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-roll License code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJT
The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.
Image credit: Florence Ferrando
