Workers at a Volkswagen factory in Zwickau, Germany, March 14, 2024. Trade chaos is forcing America’s allies closer together, and further from the United States. And as that happens, the European Union is trying to position itself at the center of a new global trade map. (Ingmar Nolting/The New York Times)
- Facing steep U.S. tariffs, the European Union is forging new trade alliances and positioning itself as a stable global partner.
- Ursula von der Leyen signals unity with nations like Indonesia, urging closer ties amid Trump’s escalating trade threats and isolationist policies.
- As America’s unpredictability grows, longtime allies increasingly pivot toward Europe, reshaping global trade away from U.S.-centric systems.
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BRUSSELS — Trade chaos is forcing America’s allies closer together, and further from the United States. And as that happens, the European Union is trying to position itself at the center of a new global trade map.
The bloc learned this weekend that Washington would subject it to 30% tariffs starting Aug. 1. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU executive branch, responded with a pledge to keep negotiating. She also made it clear that, while the European Union would delay any retaliation until early August, it would continue to draw up plans to hit back with force.
But that was not the entire strategy. Europe, like many of the United States’ trading partners, is also looking for more reliable friends.
“We’re living in turbulent times, and when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must come closer together,” von der Leyen said Sunday in Brussels at a news conference alongside the Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto.
Just as President Donald Trump threatens to put hefty tariffs on many countries, including Indonesia, the European Union is working to relax trade barriers and deepen economic relations.
“In hard times, some turn inward, toward isolation and fragmentation,” von der Leyen said. Then, in a message implicitly extended to world leaders who have been jolted by Trump’s tariffs, she added, “You are always welcome here, and you can count on Europe.”
It is a split screen that is becoming typical. On one side, the United States sows uncertainty as it blows up weeks of painstaking negotiations and escalates tariff threats. On the other, the 27-nation European Union and other American trading partners are forging closer ties, laying the groundwork for a global trading system that revolves less and less around an increasingly fickle United States.
“We in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, we really consider Europe to be very, very important in providing global stability,” Prabowo said Sunday.
It will be hard to move away from the United States, and Prabowo predicted that America would always be a world leader. It is home to the world’s largest economy, a bustling consumer market and cutting-edge technologies and services.
But many American trading partners feel that they are left with little choice but to diversify. And while trade relationships are difficult to alter, they are also difficult to change back once they have been totally reorganized.
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Jeanna Smialek/Igmar Nolting
c. 2025 The New York Times Company
