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There is a strong body of research regarding the U.S. tariffs conundrum in the meantime (including here in this comm as I just read) revealing that Trump hurts the U.S. more than any other country or region. (And the EU is indeed the least carbon-intensive economy globally due its environmental laws that - as much as we need to improve also here- are stronger than anywhere else in the world.)
Op-eds like this one are being written these days on a daily basis, but they are exaggerated. The EU could maybe retaliate more (would this hurt the European economy as U.S. tariffs do in the U.S.?), but I wouldn't say it is 'cowering'. The Florida man says something every day, and it wouldn't make sense imo to 'bully back.' Economic forecasts for the U.S. are much worse than Trump and these op-eds make it seem.
[Edit typo.]
Agreed, as long as we are not actually buying almost a trillion worth of stuff from the USπ₯΄
Putting counter tariffs up is maybe nice for the optics of a strong Europe, but I'm fine if we don't do it. Let them tax themselvesπ€·ββοΈ
Just don't buy billions worth of fossil fuels from the US please!
almost every sphere in which the EU feels inferior to the US boils down to a willingness to spend β or not. The EU is jealous of the USβs big tech firms, but there is no secret sauce here beyond investment. Take space for example, where, again, the US is dominant. How could it be anything other when Nasaβs 2023 budget was $25bn and the European Space Agencyβs was β¬7bn?
This is true.
That said I think the counterintuitive action by the EU governing bodies (contradicting what voters want) might be driven by established European capitalist interests who have sizeable business relationships with the US and whose profits would be hurt if the EU is to retaliate.
I think the greatest concession made was that von der Leyen allowed Trump to frame this as a great victory for him. He has a fragile ego and always needs to look good. She is a much more diplomatic politician and allowed him to appear victorious. But the actual, realistic concessions are pretty limited.
I thought this was a pretty convincing argument why it's not as bad for Europe as it looks https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sundown-on-the-potemkin-empire-trumps
As far as I know, it was more like Trump "stole" the framing as victory by releasing a statement before the EU and thus being in control of the narrative.
EU have no hardware that can handle consumer mobile / computing. Whole world is fucked by those monopolies to be honest.
Current consumer/mobile computing is what got the world into this sorry state in the first place.
The world is RIPE for takeover by whoever can develop a better way.
Because they hope to keep Trump in a boat against Russia, I find that very obvious.
Because they are playing 4D chess against a checkers player.
... and you have to keep reminding him not to eat the checker pieces
If only he could stop shitting across the game board while weβre at itβ¦
What if having Trump as president is 5D chess?
Hopefully he gets stuck in the 2Ds I can't even see.
Or maybe, the hole "deal" is just for show and meaningless anyways: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5435369-the-numbers-in-trumps-eu-trade-deal-are-a-joke/
I think the underlying, but mostly unspoken, fear is that you have a mad man with nukes.
France also has nukes and submarines able to deliver second strikes.
While I agree that we should act more forcefully, I still prefer to go without any kind of strike.
Of course we shouldn't strike anything. I am just trying to point out that the EU has a credible nuclear deterrent thanks to France.
I don't think that's much of a factor in geopolitics outside of the implementation of hard power. The problem with nuclear weapons is that there's only so much brinkmanship you can participate in before your threats start to lose leverage.
It's basically the equivalent of someone trying to achieve a goal by threatening to kill themselves. The ends just don't logically justify the means.
European leaders are appeasing the US because it's the most advantageous thing to do for capital holders. The instability that the US is creating is more manageable than the consequences of standing up to the US in a meaningful way would entail.
Capitalism has a great aversion to risk, and will almost always back the option closest to "business as usual". The current US administration is a risk to profitability, an upending of business relations with the US is an existential threat.
Nukes are off the table for the US. It's not like Trump has a big red button. Launch orders go through a chain and if nothing else, the sub/base commander would put a stop to it.
I think the Soviet Union ordered launches on two (?) occasions and the trigger man stood down.
Because the Germans will stop at nothing to sell their fucking cars, and that's the main driving force behind European diplomacy.
This is overlooking an important point: German national politics and the direct connection the EU commission has to it.
Ursula von der Leyen, while not a strong party ally of Friedrich Merz, is still trying to prop up the incredibly weak current coalition, as the alternative would be significantly worse.
The US tarriffs hit the German export industry especially hard, while the rest of Europe is relatively unaffected by them. With the German car industry already struggling (slept on electric and China isn't buying anymore), a 30% tarriff would effectively force them to downsize significantly and likely merge or kill off one of the big three entirely. This would be a huge political deal in Germany and likely kill the current coalition.
In typical fashion they're trying to put a bandaid on a rotten limb. By trying to delay the inevitable crisis they are ensuring it will hit us worse.