Pirate's Cove

One would think that Democrats and the NY Times would be happy for America to get a great trade deal. Nope

Europe Cuts a Trade Deal With Trump, Worried About Other Global Issues

Survive and advance.

That phrase, favored by sports teams in big tournaments, sums up Europe’s approach to the trade negotiations it just wrapped with the Trump administration.

For Europe, surviving in the first year of President Trump’s second term means reaching an agreement on a trade deal that almost certainly won’t help the continental economy — but isn’t as bad as it could have been.

Advancing means keeping Mr. Trump engaged in the foreign policy issues that have preoccupied many European leaders more this summer than their own domestic economic struggles. Those issues include the fate of the Iranian nuclear program, the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and, most important, Ukraine’s ongoing war against Russia’s invasion.

The trade deal is centered on a tariff of 15 percent on most goods imposed by the United States on imports from the European Union. It reflects a sort of risk aversion from leaders like Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission; Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany; and Emmanuel Macron, the president of France.

I hope at some point the Times says what America gets

Europe could have fought Mr. Trump longer, hoping for better terms. E.U. members had already agreed to a set of retaliatory tariffs on about $100 billion in American exports to Europe, which they could have decided to trigger if Mr. Trump had followed through on his threat to tax European exports at 30 percent starting on Aug. 1. Mr. Trump had pushed similar deadlines back before.

It’s almost like the Times wanted Europe to go hardcore on the U.S., where the Times is based and full of US citizens in a city full of US citizens, hurting the US because Orange Man Bad.

Trump Reaches Historic Trade Deal with EU: Europe to Buy $750 Billion in U.S. Energy

President Donald Trump announced a sweeping trade agreement with the European Union (EU) on Sunday, setting a baseline 15 percent tariff on European imports — including automobiles — while keeping existing 50 percent duties on steel and aluminum in place. As part of the deal, the EU committed to purchasing $750 billion in U.S. energy products.

The EU will purchase three-quarters of a trillion dollars in U.S. energy, while also investing $600 billion into America on top of existing investments. Additionally, EU countries will be setting tariffs on U.S. goods at zero percent, and Europe agreed “to purchase a vast amount of military equipment,” Trump said.

Remember, EU nations placed all sorts of tariffs on American goods for decades, making it harder and more expensive for American companies, big and small, to import their goods into Europe.

“So we have a tariff of 15% we have the opening up of all of the European countries, which I think I could say were essentially closed,” Trump said. “I mean, you weren’t exactly taking our orders, you weren’t exactly taking our agriculture, and then you would have smaller things, but for the most part, it was closed, and now it’s open.”

That’s what Trump wants: the ability for Americans to sell their goods in Europe at a reasonable price. Commerce. With who are supposed to be our allies.

(Politico) It locks in U.S. tariffs of 15 percent on most imports from the EU. Von der Leyen and Co. had succeeded in fending off Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on most EU goods to 30 percent on Aug. 1. The agreement is likely to boost the European economy, which is still lagging behind much of the rest of the world and is struggling to pick up after the Covid pandemic.

Really, Europe does need the US more than the US needs Europe. Regardless, this is what it’s all about: re-balancing trade for the US to give Americans a better deal around the world.