U.S.-European cooperation on economic issues is at a low ebb. Efforts to rekindle interest in mutually advantageous policies such as the revival of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership are not likely to succeed for the time being.
Under the prevailing circumstances, trans-Atlantic disillusionment has settled in. A better approach than letting mutual acrimony languish would be to focus on a joint challenge — how to meet the resolute Chinese challenge to the industrial economies of the West.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's growing consolidation of power is giving ever more momentum to the ambitious Chinese plan to gain dominance of high-tech industries. This is nothing short of a head-on assault, given that these industries to date have been the main source of strength in the U.S. and European economies.