The EU loves protectionism. The single market is totally dysfunctional with a recent study saying it was equivalent to a 45% tariff between member states for manufacturing, a 110% for services.
If this is the cohort you expect to save the world economy with free trade I certainly wouldn’t be betting real money on it.
Between 1861 and 1933, they had one of the highest average tariff rates on manufactured imports in the world. After 1942, the U.S. began to promote worldwide free trade.
Within the EU single market, there are no tariffs or customs duties between member states for manufactured goods, services, capital, and people, fostering free movement and trade.
The report(?) you a paraphrasing badly talked about within Europe (not the EU) and referred to figures between, say, Germany and Russia.
\? At a guess (thanks for not citing the report) you meant the IMF Regional Economic Outlook report titled “Europe: A Recovery Short of Europe’s Full Potential” (October 2024) ?
The US did this because of the free trade treaties between west European states after WW2. This eventually led to the EU. The US, not wanting to be isolated, pushed for their own treaties.
I would have thought Japan and China hated each other more than they hated Trump but it seems otherwise.
I believe they still hate each other much more than Trump, but under the given circumstances even archenemies can reach temporary (likely unstable) pragmatic agreements as long as these agreements are clearly advantageous to all of the involved archenemies involved.
I would advise you to look the current US foreign trade policy in this instance. Compared to 104% tariffs, EU policy looks positively welcoming.