Germany’s economics minister wants to start a new round of trans-Atlantic talks to solve the trade dispute with the US. So far, Europe’s response is muted.
Peter Altmaier is an optimist. This weekend, addressing the grim state of US-European relations, Germany’s economics minister repeated his call to start negotiations on a new trans-Atlantic trade deal.
But few share Mr. Altmaier’s confidence in such a far-reaching solution. There is little support within the EU for a reboot of comprehensive trade talks; memories are too fresh of popular opposition in Europe to the last such attempt, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, which US President Donald Trump abandoned shortly after he took office last year.