Trump's New Blow to Europe

Before the United States announced Thursday that it would impose steel and aluminum tariffs on the European Union, the Europeans had already resigned themselves to their fate. After months of lobbying Washington for a permanent waiver from the tariffs, the EU this week dropped expectations that it would receive any sort of exemption. Instead, it cautioned its members to “prepare for the worst.” The levies are expected to go into effect on Friday.

In many ways, the Europeans probably saw this coming a while ago. After all, President Trump’s decision which he said is necessary for the country’s national security, marks just one in a series of recent blows to the transatlantic alliance. It also caps a year defined by policy divergence, during which two allies accustomed to standing shoulder to shoulder have found themselves increasingly on opposing sides.