Summary

Donald Trump has announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on the European Union, claiming the bloc was “formed to screw the United States.”

While details are pending, he suggested the levies would target cars and other imports. The EU, a major U.S. trading partner, has vowed immediate retaliation, with potential tariffs impacting $29.3 billion in exports.

French President Emmanuel Macron had attempted to dissuade Trump, urging focus on China instead.

Critics, including economists and conservative media, warn the tariffs could harm the U.S. economy.

  • @ehpolitical@lemmy.ca
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    162 months ago

    Would love to be in the guy’s head for just 5 minutes, to see if he’s high or crazy or what.

  • @meowmeowbeanz@sopuli.xyz
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    302 months ago

    Trump’s tariffs: Swinging a 25% hammer while shouting, “They started it!”—peak trade war theatrics.

    😺😺😺😺

    • Pumpkin Escobar
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      212 months ago

      I still hope Zelenskyy is coming here Friday to announce that they decided to take the deal from Germany, and Zelenskyy ends the press conference with a double bird for Trump. It won’t happen but man I would love Zelenskyy even more if he did.

        • @Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world
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          32 months ago

          There are criteria to joining the EU that Ukraine is nowhere near matching (obviously, since they are at war). By the way, when are DC/PR becoming states?

        • @dbkblk@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          It’s not just a yes or no. Theorically, they have to do many things about corruption, economic stability. They are not supposed to be at war to apply and not to have unstable countries beside. Accepting Ukraine now, would be against all the neighbors countries that have been struggling to enter. EU have to help them getting out of this war (preferably by pushing Russia out entirely), then make peace, then help rebuilding so they are conform to enter. I really hope we manage to make them get there! But it’s long for a reason: stability. The quickest part would be to accept them as candidate, but it needs peace first.

  • @AidsKitty@lemmy.world
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    42 months ago

    Not an untrue statement. The EU was formed to make them more financially competitive and stop the endless internal warfare.

      • @AidsKitty@lemmy.world
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        12 months ago

        Not really, that is what “being more competitive” actually means. Using leverage to secure the best deal possible.

    • @Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world
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      132 months ago

      Are you kidding? The major achievement of the pact has been to stop wars among its members, something that the US highly appreciated after the WW. All presidents up to Trump have been in strong favour of the EU, and EU expansion. Obama campaigned against Brexit. Bush junior strongly pushed for expansion into Eastern Europe. They all realised how much they benefited from having strong allies. Incredible how quickly that lesson has been forgotten.

      • @Isthisreddit@lemmy.world
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        12 months ago

        Plot twist, it wasn’t forgotten. The person who wants the EU destroyed the most is probably Putin… Followed 2nd by huge corporations/monopolies.

  • Lit
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    102 months ago

    And the bloc of 50 united states was formed to screw the bloc of european union ?

    • @Zron@lemmy.world
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      52 months ago

      It did for Mexico and Canada.

      They agreed to nothing new, and the terrifs vanished.

      It must be like trying to negotiate with a toddler.

  • Lit
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    22 months ago

    Slap 100% tariffs on the bloc of united states, as a courtesy.

  • @NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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    672 months ago

    The EU was formed to screw the US… THE EU WAS FORMED TO SCREW THE US?! Bruh dude is possibly channeling Hitler and Stalin simultaneously. That’s the only thing that makes sense. Or he’s terminally dumb. One of the two.

    • @Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 months ago

      Well, his definition of “screw over” is probably when the other side of a negotiation pools resources to be able to negotiate in a balanced way.

      In that mindset, workers make Unions to “screw over” big companies.

      Because that’s essentially what the EU is: a polling of resources of many small and a few mid-sized countries to on Internation Trade matters negotiate as a block and hence in a balanced way with large countries like the US and China.

      Given Trump’s background of using his money to take advantage of contractors for his companies by using lawsuits with no hope of winning meant only to drain out the resources of others and make them quite, it makes perfectly sense that he would see those others pooling resources to be able to face him as “screwing him over” and in that “logic” the EU being created “screw over” the US.

      • @Ashelyn@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        42 months ago

        It’s the same “I’ll respect you if you respect me” dynamic in an imbalanced-power system.

        I’m screwing you over if I personally feel bad for what I’m doing to you (never happens, therefore I’m always fair). You’re screwing me over if you inconvenience me.

  • ms.lane
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    -32 months ago

    To be fair, the EU has some pretty insane tariffs on everyone outside the EU.

  • @TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Trump is kinda right. Charles De Gaulle wanted a united Europe to prevent Anglo-American influence. Aside from his Anglophobia, he vetoed UK joining then EEC because he thought UK is a Trojan horse for American influence into Europe. He also thought that the British are reluctant Europeans anyhow, so why let them in?

    Fast forward 60 years later, and De Gaulle was found right. US companies tried to lobby the EU through UK. The Brits voted for Brexit, and the US finally became an unreliable ally.

    For so much of the French being chauvinistic in a cringey way, they are right not to commit to Anglo influence or Atlanticism, presciently. The French still likes to assert their own global influence but in multilateral way with other countries. Macron and De Gaulle are correct for looking for strategic autonomy.

    Edit: I also want to add, that the Brussels effect forces other countries to adopt higher standards and regulations if they want to trade with the EU. Obviously, many right wing Americans such as Trump don’t like this.

    • @Aqarius@lemmy.world
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      82 months ago

      That, nukes, NATO… It may have been rank anglophobia, but man, did history prove him right…

          • @samus12345@lemm.ee
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            21 month ago

            Russia’s just been killing it with their disinformation campaigns the past 10 years. The UK exited the EU and now they’ve captured the US government. Sucks!

    • @ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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      452 months ago

      Brussels effects haters be like: “I really fucking hate USB type-C cables being on every device where it makes sense! I want to bo back to expensive and crappy proprietary cables only the original manufacturer is allowed to make!”

        • Coriza
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          2 months ago

          Oh come on, the full USB spec may be a cluster fuck, but even the basic functionality that is shared is enough of a step forward to how it was before with multiple physical sockets with slightly different plugs and slightly different voltage and amperage. Once I forgot my phone charger at home and lo and behold I just plugged on my work laptop USB charger and now I could charge my phone. It is great. And any cable and combination like usb-a to usb-c will give you basic charging and basic data transfer. That in itself is already a saving grace and helps diminish the clutter of cables. Sure it could be better and less confusing for things like rapid charging and other stuff now USB supports but that does not detract from the advancement. Other thing, with usb-c there is also less port clutter that we had with the previously misguided plentora of USB plugs, A, B, mini, micro, etc.

        • @ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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          152 months ago

          If you think Intel fucking with the USB naming scheme (just keep 3.0 and 3.1 for the lower speed devices instead of renaming everything 3.2 gen 892034856 for fuck’s sake!) was bad, or you had trouble with keeping track of charger standards, then you forgot the time when most manufacturers had their own crappy proprietary connection standard, that didn’t really done much more than could have been with pre-existing standards, except to force you to buy an expensive and crappy cable, and some (especially those by Apple) often broke by just looking at them in the wrong way and had those crappy and impossible to solder enamel-coated wires inside them.

          • @ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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            02 months ago

            I remember the aisles of proprietary phone chargers in Best Buy and Walmart all sectioned off by device name and the Medusa like adapters that had 14 different plugs coming off of a universal barrel connector.

          • @HappyStarDiaz@real.lemmy.fan
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            12 months ago

            If you have to have an hour long 15 point plan to explain why usb doesn’t suck…it sucks.

            And yeah of course I would use that old moto phone 70 pin power connector over usb c. Very clear specs on what it did, and super robust.

            • @ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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              12 months ago

              macdude

              There you have it! If you want to cry for your proprietary Apple cables (Lightning, etc.) then do it, you have the right to be a complete moron. Now please post me an image of an iPhone with a floppy drive, because people were crying about the “obsolete headphone jack”, and didn’t want a “paper-thin phone”, nor those epic sci-fi airpods!