EU pushes for new trade deals as tensions with US simmer

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, European Union leaders outlined a strategy to reduce economic dependence on the United States. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the bloc is close to a major trade agreement with India, which would create a common market of two billion people.

This push comes amid public criticism of US trade policy. French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU is not respected and called for activating the bloc's "trade bazooka." Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed talk of a trade war, calling it "hysteria," and stated the US will press ahead with its own trade deal with the EU despite opposition.