That sounds more like China backed down than the US did.

The EU is a lot weaker than China. China dominates critical areas of manufacturing, and does not have the level of dependence Europe (non-EU as well) has on the US - I hardly need remind people here of the dependence in IT systems.

Trump tends to present trade as a zero sum game, but it very much isn’t; outside of limited scenarios (generally developing countries protecting otherwise unviable local industry with targeted tariffs), tariffs generally hurt both sides.

The real thinking is that being a net importer gives you more negotiating power so you can use that to get a better deal.

its well worth looking at what people like Miran and Bessent said (before they were in government) to see what is driving all this.