But the worst-case scenarios were so bad that Europe’s trade negotiators gave up on returning to anything close to those halcyon days. Over the past few months Mr Trump, convinced that the EU was ripping off his countrymen,

The euro fell against the U.S. dollar amid European pushback over the pact. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 inched up to fresh records.

The Europe trade deal will see the U.S. impose a 15% import tariff on most EU goods − half the threatened rate but much more than Europeans hoped for.