Former Slovenian President responds to Yicai: It's time to consider a new round of trade liberalization.

2026.03.26

This article contains 1421 words, reading time approximately 2 minutes.

Author | Yicai, Cheng Cheng

Cover photo | On March 25, former Slovenian President Turk was interviewed by the media at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026. (Yicai reporter/photo)

Nearly nine months after the U.S.-EU trade agreement was reached, the European Parliament will vote on March 26 local time.

When asked about the prospects for U.S.-EU trade, former Slovenian President Turk told Yicai reporters at the 2026 Boao Forum Annual Conference on the 25th: “Returning to the era of tariffs is no small matter; it is a huge issue.” He then stated, “Perhaps it’s time to start considering a new round of trade liberalization, which may require some adjustments to the old mechanisms and the introduction of new arrangements.”

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the large-scale tariff policy implemented by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was illegal, the Trump administration quickly initiated a 150-day temporary 10% global tariff measure as an alternative tariff, and launched two rounds of Section 301 investigations against trade partners, including the EU.

“I must point out that America’s turn to reliance on tariffs is very regrettable, as the U.S. once led the world towards tariff reductions,” Turk stated.

He then explained that from the late 1950s until Trump’s first term, the world experienced a long process of trade liberalization led by the U.S. From the Dillon Round to the Kennedy Round, from reducing anti-dumping measures and technical standards to non-tariff barriers in the Tokyo Round, to including technological cooperation and service trade in negotiations in the Uruguay Round, all global trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) framework have always revolved around reducing tariffs.

Turk stated that the current U.S. government is using tariffs, which are long considered “a thing of the past,” to pressure trade partners, causing great shock to Europe. “We must recognize and understand the nature of this ‘dramatic’ reality; this regression is no small matter, but an extremely serious issue.”

In July last year, U.S. President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reached a U.S.-EU trade agreement. Under this agreement, the EU is required to eliminate tariffs on U.S. industrial products and provide preferential market access for U.S. seafood and agricultural products in exchange for the U.S. imposing a 15% tariff on most EU exports to the U.S.

However, the EU has repeatedly delayed the approval process for this agreement, once due to Trump’s comments regarding Greenland and another time due to the policy uncertainty arising from the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Trump administration’s large-scale tariff policy was illegal.

This month, the European Parliament introduced a “Sunrise Clause” in the amendments, meaning that the EU’s reduction of import tariffs under the agreement is contingent on the U.S. fulfilling its obligations under the agreement. Even if the European Parliament votes in favor, the agreement will then be submitted to the European Council for further review, which means the bill will not be officially passed until at least April.

In response to the current uncertainties, Turk believes that re-empowering the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the core direction for overcoming the current predicament.

“I believe this needs to be approached from two aspects: one is to restore the WTO’s dispute resolution mechanism, which has stagnated due to the U.S. refusal to appoint Appellate Body members. I think actions must be taken to allow the WTO to demonstrate its unique and extremely valuable capability in dispute resolution for global trade. Secondly, perhaps we should start conceptualizing a new round of trade liberalization. This may require some adjustments to the old mechanisms and the introduction of new mechanisms.”

In the past six months, the EU has been “actively breaking barriers” in trade relations, reaching several free trade agreements with Indonesia, India, and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) in South America that had been stalled for years. On March 24, after eight years of long negotiations, the EU signed a bilateral free trade agreement with Australia. Under this agreement, over 99% of the categories of goods exported from the EU to Australia will be exempt from tariffs. EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis stated this week that the EU’s annual exports of goods and services to Australia are expected to grow by one-third in the next decade from the current €65 billion.