Trump Scraps Turnberry Pact, Slaps 25 % Tariff on EU Auto Imports

This volley echoes the 1930 Smoot–Hawley tariff hike that raised average U.S. duties to 20 % and triggered foreign retaliation, and the 1971 Nixon 10 % import surcharge imposed after frustrations with allied monetary policy. Like those episodes, today’s move exploits emergency trade statutes (Section 232) to bypass Congress and pressures allies for broader geopolitical aims—from Iran war support to domestic election optics. It underscores a decade-long trend toward weaponised tariffs and bilateral ‘mini-deals’ that sidestep WTO disciplines established in 1947–1995; each time the U.S. tears up a pact, it normalises ad-hoc enforcement and nudges partners to pursue strategic autonomy, including EU localisation of supply chains or closer ties with Asian markets. On a 100-year horizon this decision may register as one more rivet popping loose from the post-WWII liberal trading order, accelerating a shift toward fragmented, security-driven economic blocs—unless, as in past cycles, the costs of beggar-thy-neighbour policies force a later return to multilateralism.