Appeasement Won’t Stop Tariff Coercion

European political leaders have offered trade concessions and defense promises to placate the U.S. administration, but those gestures have not removed Washington’s ability or incentive to use tariffs and force posture as leverage. The Turnberry trade deal, Germany’s concessions on tariffs, and the continued invocation of Section 232 show an asymmetry: appeasement can leave industries exposed while failing to secure predictable U.S. behavior. — If true, this reframes EU policy debates toward building autonomous safeguards (industrial, legal, and military) rather than transactional appeasement, with big implications for trade strategy and alliance politics.