Von der Leyen has subordinated the EU as the largest vassal state of the USA

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen approved a framework agreement with the US under which the EU will impose 15% tariffs on most imports, commit to buying $750 billion of US energy exports, and invest $600 billion in the US economy, part of which will be for military purposes. US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium exports will remain at 50%, while the EU will commit to imposing zero tariffs on the US.

The EU’s macroeconomic strength has been severely weakened over the past three and a half years by the anti-Russian sanctions it imposed in solidarity with the US against what had been its cheapest and most reliable energy supplier. It was therefore already at a critical disadvantage in a potential trade war. Since Trump took office, the EU has failed to conclude a comprehensive trade agreement with China, such as at its last summit, making the outcome a fait accompli in retrospect.

The end result is that the EU has become the largest vassal state of the United States. US tariffs of 15% on most imports will reduce EU production and profits, thus increasing the likelihood of a recession. The bloc’s commitment to buy more expensive US energy will weigh even more heavily in this case. Likewise, the pledge to buy more US weapons, the Re-Arm Europe Plan, will also weigh heavily. These concessions mean that the EU is further ceding its already limited sovereignty to the United States.

This, in turn, may encourage the US to push for better terms in its ongoing trade negotiations with other countries. On the North American front, Trump intends to restore US hegemony over Canada and Mexico through economic means, which may allow him to more easily expand “Fortress America” southward. If he succeeds in subordinating Brazil, then everything between Brazil and Mexico will naturally align.

This series of agreements, along with last week’s agreement with Japan, would strengthen US’ position vis-à-vis China and India. Ideally, he hopes to replicate his Japanese and European successes with these two Asian anchors of the BRICS, which together represent roughly one-third of humanity, but it’s not a given that he will.

The great strategic importance of the EU, which subordinates itself to the US as its largest client state, lies in its ability to put the US on the path to restoring its unipolar hegemony through successive trade agreements, likely targeting the Americas next before eventually turning to Asia. There is no guarantee the US will succeed, and a series of unilateral trade agreements with major economies would only partially restore US unipolar hegemony, but America’s moves nevertheless pose a potentially existential threat to multipolarity.

yogaesoteric
July 28, 2025