271
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?
this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2025
271 points (98.6% liked)
Europe
6875 readers
932 users here now
News and information from Europe 🇪🇺
(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)
Rules (2024-08-30)
- This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
- No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
- Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
- No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism. We follow German law; don't question the statehood of Israel.
- Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
- If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
- Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in other communities.
- Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
- No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
- Always provide context with posts: Don't post uncontextualized images or videos, and don't start discussions without giving some context first.
(This list may get expanded as necessary.)
Posts that link to the following sources will be removed
- on any topic: Al Mayadeen, brusselssignal:eu, citjourno:com, europesays:com, Breitbart, Daily Caller, Fox, GB News, geo-trends:eu, news-pravda:com, OAN, RT, sociable:co, any AI slop sites (when in doubt please look for a credible imprint/about page), change:org (for privacy reasons)
- on Middle-East topics: Al Jazeera
- on Hungary: Euronews
Unless they're the only sources, please also avoid The Sun, Daily Mail, any "thinktank" type organization, and non-Lemmy social media. Don't link to Twitter directly, instead use xcancel.com. For Reddit, use old:reddit:com
(Lists may get expanded as necessary.)
Ban lengths, etc.
We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.
If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 7 or 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.
If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the primary mod account @EuroMod@feddit.org
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Germany exports a lot of cars to the US. Yes, it is that simple and stupid sadly.
They've cited specifically energy sales to Europe from the US as a major point.
Yes, and? That is in addition to not retaliating against US American imports and services to the EU. Basically a bribe on top.
Right. That's all.
Can somebody explain..
Two ways of answering this:
-
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.
-
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.
Maybe he's using future Ukraine support as a hostage over this. Or something else just to get his deal through.
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.
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.
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.
"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)
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.
The GDP of the USA and of the EU are almost the same at ~27 trillion USD corrected for purchasing power. In absolute numbers, the USA GDP is larger.
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=usa+gdp+ppp+vs+eu+gdp+ppp
"Corrected for purchasing power."
EU got eggs tho
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?
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.
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.
Ok so surely Bayrou and it's ilk will veto it?
I don't think they can veto a trade deal
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.
Oh, that's gonna be a shitshow. I blame the "EU Made Simple" channel for saying veto is not needed. But BBC also says the approval is needed, and it just makes more sense. My knowledge in law is insufficient to confirm.
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.