11/04/2025
Tariffs and trade wars are never good for workers who inevitably end up paying the price, quite literally. Instead, trade can be a force that creates more jobs and better working conditions that leave no worker behind, but only if the EU is prepared to stand its ground by embracing its values and championing international labour standards.
The world is in turmoil. The benefits of open markets that were once promised to millions of workers have not trickled down evenly at all – not in the US, not in the EU, nor anywhere in the world. Free trade has generated big profits for the few, mostly corporations, but has also left many working people exposed. Labour, with the environment, has been and continues to be an adjustment variable, bearing the brunt of the impact of powerful market forces, especially where exploitation is rife.
Certain political parties have gained consensus by exploiting the discontent, stirring resentment towards enemies – real or perceived – and some have been quite successful in seizing power on the back of this narrative. International trade is just another field where these parties can profess a commitment to the cause of workers with protectionist slogans without actually doing anything to improve their livelihoods, sometimes quite the opposite. The trade war that is playing out before our eyes is an egregious example.
On the eve of the US president’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs in early April, the US trade representative released the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report where 14 categories of trade barriers were identified. Interestingly, among these are failures by a government to protect internationally recognised worker rights, like the right to join a union and go on strike, as well as levels of environmental protection. These failures – which represent an unfair competitive advantage – influence trade flows or investment decisions that negatively affect US firms and workers and are thus considered trade barriers.
On the face of it, the US tariffs are therefore imposed to counter this type of unfair competition from countries with lower standards, as well as pursuing other aims such as onshoring jobs back to the US and closing the trade deficit the US has with most of the rest of the world. If the intention were really to raise standards, workers worldwide would be unlikely to have a problem with the US or any tariffs. However, tariffs alone hit working people hardest – the opposite of their alleged aim – by threatening jobs and incomes through price increases. Thus, an appropriate response to tariffs for the EU would be a comprehensive strategy to stabilise the economy, save jobs and protect incomes.
On the jobs front, there are measures that have been tested and proved successful during the Covid-19 pandemic that could be redeployed, such as joint employment support schemes. These measures should be targeted first and foremost to safeguard jobs in companies impacted by the tariffs, and should not be used to increase profits or shareholder dividends – trickle-down economics will not do it for workers this time either. Also, tariffs alone would not bring jobs back unless these are accompanied by an active industrial policy coupled with investment, the signs of which seem elusive in the US and in the EU alike, at least for now.
The situation is evolving rapidly, with announcements of tariffs, counter-tariffs and delays. But, while it is important for the EU to continue to seek negotiated solutions with the US, Europe must not water down our rights and rules, as again workers will be the first to suffer from any caving into US blackmail on standards. Regulatory requirements were a stumbling block during the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiation which eventually failed, but it must be clear we will not blink first. This also applies to the strategy of trade diversification. Although growth is projected to be slow, the EU remains the largest economy in the world with a GDP per head of €25,000 for its 440 million consumers. The EU should therefore hold its nerve: good standards cannot be the trade-off to sign new trade agreements with the rest of the world, especially where working conditions are extremely poor – doing so would come back to hit us like a boomerang in the shape of unfair competition, of which there is plenty already.
To end unfair competition based on bad labour standards and very low wages, what is needed besides bilateral trade agreements is an overhaul of international trade. We need a progressive reform of the WTO to secure rules-based trade open, just and sustainable, providing equal rights and benefits for workers and citizens. As we approach the 2026 WTO ministerial meeting in Cameroun, the reform must confirm the role of the International Labour Organization (ILO) as global leader in social regulation, which is already the case, but also enshrine a commitment that labour standards should never be considered a protectionist measure and thus treated like a trade barrier, because improving working conditions contributes to the elimination of poverty and the economic development of countries. For this reform to be successful, countries where standards are low must be supported in their efforts to ratify ILO conventions and incentivised to do better in their implementation of labour standards. Only this way will international trade leave no worker behind.
Photo credits: Shutterstock.com/Supavadee butradee
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