Europe’s Own Trade Barriers Are Worse Than Trump’s, ECB Finds

Trade frictions across the European Union are more onerous than the highest tariff US President Donald Trump threatened to slap on the bloc last year, according to research by the European Central Bank.

Barriers such as differences in national rules and regulations, cumbersome administrative procedures and anti-competition practices are responsible for intra-EU trade costs equivalent to levies of 67% for goods and 95% for services, economists including Lucia Quaglietti and Vanessa Gunnella wrote in an article published Wednesday.

Before a trade agreement with the US clinched last summer, Trump had considered charging 50% on all shipments from the EU. ...