Guest commentary: New US trade policy: There is no lobby against Europe's tariffs

The Democrats' massive victory in the midterms will not usher in a fundamental shift in U.S. trade policy. Tariffs have rightly become unpopular and the public now rightly associates them with higher prices.

One can therefore hope that the word “tariff” has such a negative connotation that politicians will hesitate to openly propose tariffs – let alone extol their virtues, as President Trump has repeatedly done.

But voters at the polls only expressed their dissatisfaction with high inflation. Trade did not appear as a top-ranking issue in any relevant surveys during the election campaign and in most cases did not even make it into the ten most frequently mentioned concerns.

The election will lead to some notable shifts in US foreign economic policy - but these will be anything but strategic, let alone coherent.

The world must expect laws to be passed that dictate a more confrontational stance toward the Chinese economy. This stance enjoys support in both congressional parties, even if it did not play a role in the election campaign.