The president’s threats to slap duties on goods imported from the European Union are part of a pattern of directing the harshest penalties at the United States’ closest allies.

Last-minute phone calls pull the North American neighbours back from the brink of a trade war, but the US is still targeting Chinese imports.

The pauses—which allow a period of negotiations over drug trafficking and border security—provide a cool-down period after a tumultuous few days that put North America on the cusp of a trade war.