The United States are the main destination of European Union (EU) exports (excluding the Single Market). As transatlantic trade tensions intensify, some European industries are particularly exposed to the risk of losing access to the U.S. market.

Since taking office, Donald Trump has fully embraced his 'tariff mania,' imposing higher taxes on certain countries and products, even going so far as to introduce reciprocal tariffs. This has led to a wide range of import duties on the U.S. market.

On average, the United States and the European Union (EU) apply relatively low tariffs. How do the levels vary by industry group ?

China dominates global trade with 730 products for which it accounts for more than half of global exports in 2023, far more than the EU, the United States, and Japan.

China, in addition to being one of the leading producers of minerals used in electric vehicle batteries, has also become the largest importer, thanks to its massive investments worldwide.

The boom in international trade in healthcare products does not date back to the Covid-19 pandemic but to the great multilateral trade opening of the 2000s. Will the protectionist tensions that have been building since 2022 slow this growth?

The automotive sector plays a central role in Donald Trump's declarations on trade deficits and his threats of protectionist measures against the European Union (EU) as well as Canada and Mexico. With a $270 billion motor vehicle trade deficit in 2023, cars are one of the major items, nearly a quarter of the total, in the US trade deficit after consumer goods.

Vietnam opening up and development are closely linked to the strategies of multinational companies at the heart of the transformation of economic structures. In spite of international trade tensions, Vietnam seems to be taking advantage of this by acting as a conduit for Japanese, Korean and Chinese companies to export to the United States.

Vietnam has opted for international openness since 1986 to create a “socialist market economy”, which has allowed it to experience vigorous economic expansion. Its integration into the world economy has made it an important link in international value chains, massively importing components from China and Asia in general, and exporting, as massively, finished products to the United States and Europe.

China's international expansion follows multiple paths: trade, investment, finance and currency, to focus on the economy. In doing so, it pursues different objectives. The new roads project appears to be the way to provide a flexible framework for China's overall strategy. However, we can question its feasibility.