Director's Cut: EU risks US tariff pain in standing by the WTO

As global trade war continues to unfold, Bruegel director Guntram Wolff is joined for this Director's Cut of 'The Sound of Economics' podcast by Bernd Lange MEP, chair of the Committee on International Trade (INTA), to discuss Europe's options.

Increasingly it appears that the EU will have to choose between standing strong with the established laws of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), or striking a deal for a permanent reprieve from the US trade tariffs.

There is no question that the tariffs have significant implications for European industry. Indeed, as the US and China brandish lists of further products on which they would consider imposing tariffs, the full scale of the potential future damage to EU exporters is unclear. Yet there remains some hope that the EU could align with other nations to use the WTO to bring US President Trump back on side.

To discuss what opportunities as well as threats this current stand-off presents to the EU, Bernd Lange - member of the European Parliament and chair of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) - joins Bruegel director Guntram Wolff in this instalment of 'The Sound of Economics'.