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Frances Fitzgerald: The EU’s relationship with the US must not be based on fear

The European Union’s reaction to President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act could lead to further trade barriers across the Atlantic

Joe Biden, the US President. The EU has announced a loosening of state aid rules to compete with the US. Picture: Getty

The French enlightenment writer Montesquieu wrote that “peace is a natural effect of trade”. Almost 300 years later, this idea is still at the core of the European Union’s founding mission.

After centuries of brutal and repeated conflict, the nations of Europe put down their arms and took down their trade barriers. Now the close economic ties that bind us, both within the EU and with the wider world, embed a durable peace as well ...