Simon Johnson says Trump was “out of his depth” in his July 25 meeting with the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker. Trump is clearly not as a “brilliant” negotiator as he claims to be. It is widely agreed that Trump had been “outmaneuvered by adroit European diplomats.” Despite animosity toward the EU, Juncker told Trump: “We are close partners, allies, not enemies. We have to work together. We are representing half the world’s trade.... We should talk of reducing tariffs, not of increasing tariffs. That’s what we have to do.”

Only Trump’s supporters see his disruptive trade policies as a “perfect example of his success.” There are signs that Trump’s trade policies are causing the economy difficulty, and creating political problems. On July 24, as he announced a $12bn aid plan to subsidise farmers hit by retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and the EU, Republican senator Ron Johnson criticised: “This is becoming more and more like a Soviet-type of economy here.”

Standing alongside Juncker in the rose garden of the White House, Trump bragged after a three-and-a-half hour meeting: “This was a very big day for free and fair trade, a very big day indeed.” Juncker, more low-key told reporters: “I came for a deal – we made a deal.” He was hoping to persuade Trump not to impose punishing tariffs on car imports and risk an all-out trade war. Although the meeting eased pressure on both sides, EU members have doubts.

While there was good chemistry between the two men, it remains to be seen whether their personal relationship will sustain. At a G7 meeting in Canada in June, Trump accused Juncker of being a “brutal killer”. For the time being Juncker has avoided an escalation of the continuing Transatlantic trade war by buying the German car industry more time. The “truce” will also hold off on a further raft of retaliatory tariffs on €20bn of goods, which were lined up to join the levies on US imports like agricultural goods, Harley Davidson and bourbon.

Trump began trade talks with top EU officials, suggesting that the US would be “pleased” if all tariffs, barriers and subsidies could be scrapped. This constitutes “a remarkable U-turn for Trump,” breathing new life into the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, that the Obama administration was negotiating with the Europeans from 2013 through the end of 2016. Trump shelved the pact soon after he took office in January 2017.

The EU said it will open negotiations and “work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods.” While it intended to import a greater amount of liquified natural gas (LNG) from the US, and – possibly – a load of soya beans to help farmers in the US midwest hit by Chinese tariffs, pledges were made with full knowledge that market forces would take their course.

There remains deep scepticism among EU member states. France and the Netherlands had been particularly adamant about not supporting the EU Commission to negotiate with Trump unless he withdrew the punitive tariffs on European steel and aluminium that started the trade war in the first place. Emmanuel Macron, was one of those who insisted that the EU would not negotiate “with a gun to its head,” and called for the tariffs be dropped in order for wider trade negotiations to progress.