Europeans warm to trade as tariff battles rage around the world

Globalization isn’t so scary for Europeans anymore.

After listening to politicians bemoan trade wars and their fallout on the global economy for the past few years, 60% percent of European Union citizens say they benefit to some degree from doing business with other countries, up from 44% in 2010. The new survey of more than 27,000 people across the 28-nation bloc might be somewhat surprising given the bad rap the international trading system has has gotten elsewhere.

The poll yields some unsurprising results: Younger people, those with more education, those who live in large cities and those with more money are more likely to see the rewards from trade. But delving into the numbers shows some results that are relevant to the current tariff-happy environment:

The analysis shows no difference between genders when it comes to the question of benefiting from trade. If you get your information on globalization from the television, you were less likely feel the rewards of cross-border commerce than those who read about it on the internet.

The results showed 56% of Europeans support higher tariffs on countries and businesses that violate international rules. That’s important as the EU looks for ways to respond to U.S. efforts to paralyze the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system.

On the reasons to raise tariffs or not, 22% said they should be higher to protect domestic industry and jobs, while 32% of respondents said the EU should only increase import duties to retaliate when other countries do so first. Still, 35% said they are against raising tariffs because of the risk of higher costs for consumers and businesses.

Those results may embolden EU trade ministers gathering in Brussels today. While the threat of U.S. tariffs on European automobiles may have waned, President Donald Trump’s attitude toward the WTO has them worried. So does Trump’s rhetoric toward the EU, which he as recently as this month called "worse than China.”