France called a framework trade deal between the United States and European Union a “dark day” for Europe, saying the bloc had caved in to U.S. President Donald Trump with an unbalanced deal that slaps a headline 15 per cent tariff on EU goods while sparing U.S. imports from any immediate European retaliation.
  • Asetru@feddit.orgEnglish
    59·
    5 days ago

    Isn’t Europe like… The bigger of the two markets? Can somebody explain to me why we didn’t just tell him to fuck off and have him eat his damn tariffs?

    • poVoq@slrpnk.netMEnglish
      29·
      5 days ago

      Germany exports a lot of cars to the US. Yes, it is that simple and stupid sadly.

    • Riddick3001@lemmy.worldEnglish
      18·
      4 days ago

      Can somebody explain…

      Two ways of answering this:

      1. I don’t think anyone really can. It’s my understanding that many Europeans citizens and some politicians are really critical and unhappy, and quite angry.

      2. Rational Factors and hidden agenda’s;

      a. At this moment it’s only a principle- agreement, it needs to be ratified; b. this deal is only a piece of paper , like a memo, so who gives a shit, c. Tomorrow Trump will change everything again as he’s unreliable, d. The political factions within Europe were too divided in their stance, and this wedge was used as leverage; e. EU wants USA defence fully committed in NATO as to face the other growing threats; f. Appeasement to avert a Tradewar and International Financial collapse, so they reckon the price of a collapse would exceed the loses ( Damage control); g Don’t forget it’s US citizens paying the Tariffs, not Europeans ; h. Furure commitments of investments in the US, mean absolutely nothing, as we hope that the Dems take control within the next year(s); I. Maybe Europe bought Trump for some symbolic gesture, and in the end, this will prove a smart decision. j. Likely, but an unknown, Trump made some concessions to Europe we know nothing about and isn’t broadly communicated; k. At this moment, the US administration seems to be friends with Europe again, instead of treating Europe like an enemy.

      Probably lots more can be said. These were just my 5 minutes take, today.

    • dalakkin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      5 days ago

      Maybe he’s using future Ukraine support as a hostage over this. Or something else just to get his deal through.

    • the_wiz@feddit.orgEnglish
      4·
      4 days ago

      The answer is: Military

      At the moment Europe is very much dependent on the US if there is really a bigger conflict on the horizon, and i bet Trump did not hesitate to play this card.

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      5·
      5 days ago

      One possible reason is they’re just not very worried about their domestic industries suffering. Americans will have to pay extra to buy from Europe, which hurts Americans more than anyone, and that’s it. It’s a huge economy, and they have other foreign markets to work with, so that’s probably not going to sink Volkswagen on it’s own.

      In Canada, if we took a similar deal, our local industries would implode. Anyone that produces anything here would suddenly have 1/10th the nearby market to competitively sell to AND American competition at home. I mean, in the long run we could figure out other businesses, but the short term impact would be apocalyptic.

      Edit: And yes, they want to keep the US defence industry and budget on side, at least until Russia is less of a threat.

      • imrighthere@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        5 days ago

        Odd, I view the us as a far greater threat to us than russia. Did russia threaten to annex us ? No, that was the usa. They are a threat.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          2·
          5 days ago

          “They” in the edit was the EU, to be clear.

          Russia isn’t much of a threat to Canada with the pole in between us, but they’re totally eyeing up parts of the EU. (I guess Trump did talk some shit about Greenland, but everyone is still laughing that off, and making this deal probably does help prevent anything from happening)

    • syreus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      96·
      5 days ago

      What metric are you using to measure the market? The US GDP is around 50% larger than the EU.

      I’m sure there are compelling ways to make the case either way.

          • jenesaisquoi@feddit.orgEnglish
            31·
            3 days ago

            Yes. Perhaps an example will help: I live in Switzerland and make twenty times as much as someone in Moldova, yet I can buy only four times as many things. Now, am I twenty times as wealthy or four?

            • syreus@lemmy.worldEnglish
              11·
              3 days ago

              This is from Google since I am working and can’t dedicate much time to this.

              Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) theory, in its absolute form, assumes the absence of trade barriers and transportation costs. Therefore, it doesn’t inherently account for them. In reality, trade barriers such as tariffs and other restrictions can hinder the applicability of PPP by preventing the equalization of prices across countries. This is because PPP is based on the Law of One Price, which suggests that identical goods should sell for the same price in different markets when expressed in a common currency, given the absence of such frictions.

  • kingofras@lemmy.worldEnglish
    71·
    4 days ago

    If this doesn’t make sense, understand everything he’s doing is just to distract from the attention he’s receiving as Child Predator in Chief.

    It’s not a trade agreement, just a memo to distract the news headlines.

      • xiwi@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        5·
        4 days ago

        All 27 member states have to agree to it, the EU isn’t like the USA and I’m sure pedoman still hasn’t understood it.

          • xiwi@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            2·
            4 days ago

            EU is primarily an economic trade agreement, I mean it’s much more then that but ultimately their legal power over it’s members is limited.