President Donald Trump has stated that he believes that the European Union is “worse than China” in terms of applying “barriers, tariffs, taxes”. That bodes ill for the – currently stalled – negotiations towards reaching a trade deal. Indeed, the U.S. merchandise trade deficit with the EU climbed 10.5% year over year in the 12 months to Jun. 30 to reach a record $175.5 billion. It’s likely that tariffs will be the preferred tool should the Trump administration wish to take action against the EU. The largest contributors to the growth in the de...