US Tariffs and the Strategic Responses of China, the EU, and Japan
No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 International trade relations between the four biggest economic powers – the European Union, the United States, Japan, and China – have changed significantly in recent years, as an escalation of tariffs turned into trade war confrontations, particularly those initiated by the US. The EU, Japan, and China, three of the US’s major trading partners, all had to decide how to respond. China chose to retaliate against the US, the EU responded through calibrated countermeasures that matched the value of the US tariffs, and Japan relied on negotiation to reach an agreement with the US. Although the three economies faced the same external pressure, their responses differed according to their trade dependencies and strategic interests. More
