(07-28-2025 11:06 AM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  

Maybe they can just admit that Trump is just plain smarter than them???

EU Faces Massive Internal Backlash After Leaders Capitulate to Trump’s Tariff Demands

Quote:President Donald Trump has clinched a landmark trade agreement with the European Union, imposing a 15% baseline tariff on most EU imports to the United States.

This deal, announced after intense negotiations at his Turnberry resort in Scotland, averts a potential trade war while rebalancing a relationship long skewed against American workers.

Previously, Trump imposed a 10% standard tariff on the bulk of European Union products shipped to the United States, in addition to a 25% duty on vehicles and a 50% levy on steel and aluminum.

Trump warned of raising tariffs to 30% on the entire region if no agreement was secured by August 1, a figure that EU authorities claimed could essentially halt certain trade channels.

The agreement covers key industries, with the 15% tariff applying to automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors entering the American market.

EU steel and aluminum face a quota system rather than outright higher levies, providing some relief but maintaining strong protections for domestic producers.

Zero tariffs were mutual on select goods like aircraft, chemicals, and agricultural products, fostering targeted cooperation without surrendering U.S. leverage.

Ursula von der Leyen said negotiations are still ongoing regarding tariff exemptions for wines and spirits.

In a major win for American energy independence, the EU committed to purchasing $750 billion in U.S. energy over three years, bolstering jobs in oil, gas, and related fields.

Additional pledges include over $600 billion in European investments into the U.S., spanning pharmaceuticals and autos, which could create thousands of high-paying positions.

This influx supports Trump’s vision of revitalizing American industry through reciprocal deals that prioritize domestic growth.

The American technology sector has strongly urged Trump to influence the European Union to relax regulations governing online speech and data handling. Von der Leyen refused to yield on these matters, and defended the right for country-specific digital taxes.

While the EU avoided Trump’s threatened 30% tariffs, the outcome highlights Brussels’ internal divisions and reluctance to retaliate aggressively.

Member states like Germany pushed for concessions to shield their export-heavy economies, but the bloc ultimately capitulated under pressure.

Critics in Europe decry it as suboptimal, with France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou stating that this deal is a “dark day” for a Europe that has “resolved itself to submission”.

This pact mirrors deals with Japan at 15% and the UK at 10%, establishing a new global standard where America dictates terms.

The deal shields U.S. consumers from immediate price spikes by phasing in changes, though economists note modest impacts on growth.

Overall, Trump’s strategy has stabilized markets, with stocks hitting highs amid reduced uncertainty.

(07-28-2025 11:06 AM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  

Narrator: Dude has a joint in his left hand.

France’s Prime Minister denounces EU for ‘submitting’ to Trump in U.S.-EU trade deal: ‘A dark day’

Quote:French Prime Minister François Bayrou criticized the European Union (EU) for agreeing to a trade deal with President Donald Trump that places a 15% tariff on all EU goods while the U.S. largely enjoys tariff-free exports.

Bayrou argued that the recent deal, facilitated by EU President Ursula von der Leyen, was an act of “submission,” marking a “dark day” for the European Union.

English translation: “Von der Leyen-Trump Agreement: it is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” Bayrou declared in a Monday X post.

French government ministers have also since echoed Bayrou’s sentiment, with French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin telling the media that “Donald Trump only understands force.”

“It would have been better to respond by showing our capacity to retaliate earlier. And the deal could have probably looked different,” he added.

Notably, French President Emmanuel Macron has remained silent on the matter, and analysts say that this could be signaling his displeasure with Europe’s end of the deal.

The deal made was substantially lower than the 30% tariff, which was set to take effect August 1st, if no agreement was reached. The agreement also included a $750 billion investment in U.S. energy and a $600 billion investment into the United States.

“The trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the United States will bring temporary stability to economic actors threatened by the escalation of American tariffs, but it is unbalanced,” stated French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad in an X post.

“Let’s be clear: the current situation is not satisfactory and cannot be sustainable. The free trade that has brought shared prosperity to both sides of the Atlantic since the end of the Second World War is now rejected by the United States, which is choosing economic coercion and complete disregard for WTO rules. This is a structural change. We must quickly draw the consequences or risk fading away,” he continued, despite the EU previously enjoying a trade surplus with the United States.

“The matter is not settled. Protectionism, inflation, and uncertainty will penalize American businesses and households, while pressure on universities and the migration policy pursued by the administration will hinder innovation. But if Europeans do not wake up, the difficulties of others will seem minor compared to our own decline,” Haddad added.

Senior French officials have since stated that the newly introduced 15% tariff will apply to 70% of EU exports into the United States, while specific sectors, including aircraft parts, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, and specific chemicals, are exempt.

EU countries can go f^ck themselves. They are the ones who agreed to hand over their national autonomy to a large bureaucracy under the auspices to weaken the USA. Frick 'em

(07-28-2025 10:32 AM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(07-28-2025 10:17 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(07-28-2025 09:51 AM)mlb Wrote:  

(07-28-2025 09:34 AM)VA49er Wrote:  This will only increase costs for Americans! - Says the average Dem that has always been in favor of higher corporate taxes.

They aren't wrong.... and neither are the people on the right who say that higher corporate taxes will raise the costs of goods. Both are a tax on the consumer.

I understand the need to even the playing field for American companies, but it comes at the expense of the consumer who is paying a tax on all goods and services. The American products will coming in just below their foreign competitors, hence the costs will go up for the consumer. Simple as that.

So when we just got "the biggest tax cut ever", we really didn't. We shifted where the money is collected.

I agree 100%. I am just amused at the idiots that are pro higher corporate tax rates but against higher tariffs even though they both have the same net result on the consumer.

For the love of God, WE ALL GET IT HERE, you don't have to keep on saying it. Especially since you continually ignore the fact that these tariffs are WAY more punitive and wide-reaching on consumers then a few percentage points of increased costs of goods due to higher corporate tax rates.

Way more punitive my ass. You keep being proved wrong. Inflation continues to go down or steady at worst. So, you're big boogeyman tariff/tax has proven to be false.

The EU rate at 15% is small enough it will mostly be adsorbed by the importers to avoid demand degradation but will generate billions. So, do what y'all do best. Keep lying and making **** up to fit your narrative.

(07-29-2025 07:29 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(07-28-2025 10:32 AM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(07-28-2025 10:17 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(07-28-2025 09:51 AM)mlb Wrote:  

(07-28-2025 09:34 AM)VA49er Wrote:  This will only increase costs for Americans! - Says the average Dem that has always been in favor of higher corporate taxes.

They aren't wrong.... and neither are the people on the right who say that higher corporate taxes will raise the costs of goods. Both are a tax on the consumer.

I understand the need to even the playing field for American companies, but it comes at the expense of the consumer who is paying a tax on all goods and services. The American products will coming in just below their foreign competitors, hence the costs will go up for the consumer. Simple as that.

So when we just got "the biggest tax cut ever", we really didn't. We shifted where the money is collected.

I agree 100%. I am just amused at the idiots that are pro higher corporate tax rates but against higher tariffs even though they both have the same net result on the consumer.

For the love of God, WE ALL GET IT HERE, you don't have to keep on saying it. Especially since you continually ignore the fact that these tariffs are WAY more punitive and wide-reaching on consumers then a few percentage points of increased costs of goods due to higher corporate tax rates.

Way more punitive my ass. You keep being proved wrong. Inflation continues to go down or steady at worst. So, you're big boogeyman tariff/tax has proven to be false.

The EU rate at 15% is small enough it will mostly be adsorbed by the importers to avoid demand degradation but will generate billions. So, do what y'all do best. Keep lying and making **** up to fit your narrative.

Yep, a quick google search tells me that the EU has a 50% tariff on US steel, aluminum and copper. That doesn't even touch on the EU tariff on US beef. So, all this faux outrage about "higher US tariffs" is simply political pandering and has no bases in real life, given what the EU has been charging the US all along.

Im intrigued by the following:

Quote:Under the terms of the deal, the EU has agreed to buy $750 billion worth of energy from the US.

Additionally, the EU will make $600 billion in investments in the US.

Both are completely unenforceable. Someone want to point me to the national laws in the EU that require private concerns to do the above?

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/29/trump-eu...clear.html

In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey
Butane in my veins and I'm out to cut the junkie
With the plastic eyeballs, spray-paint the vegetables
Dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose

Kill the headlights and put it in neutral
Stock car flamin' with a loser and the cruise control
Baby's in Reno with the vitamin D
Got a couple of couches, sleep on the love-seat

Someone came in sayin' I'm insane to complain
About a shotgun wedding and a stain on my shirt
Don't believe everything that you breathe
You get a parking violation and a maggot on your sleeve
So shave your face with some mace in the dark
Savin' all your food stamps and burnin' down the trailer park
Yo, cut it

Soy un perdedor
Tanq's a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
(Double-barrel buckshot)
Soy un perdedor
Tanq's a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?

Forces of evil in a bozo nightmare
'Cause one's got a weasel and the other's got a flag
One's on the pole, shove the other in a bag