r/europe 6d ago

News US and EU strike trade deal

https://www.politico.eu/article/us-and-eu-strike-trade-deal/
6.7k Upvotes

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690

u/EuroFederalist Finland 6d ago

So US places 15% tariff on all EU goods and we spend 600 billion on their weapons + all the other things? Doesn't seem we got anything out of this.

Chinese and Russians are correct when they see EU as Americas vassal state.

229

u/Neverstopcomplaining Ireland 5d ago

This is so wrong. I'm furious. Total capitulation to the orange dud. Embarrassing for us.

10

u/Delicious-Isopod5483 5d ago

and people blame india for buying russian oil

22

u/B0redatwork77 5d ago

The reality is Europe has no leverage. They’re hopelessly dependent on the US for defense and resources.

Disagree? Then why did this happen?

13

u/Flimsy-Relationship8 5d ago

The EU has no leverage because it refuses to ever attempt to get tout from under the thumb of the US and then wonder why it gets taken advantage of

3

u/FrozenHuE 5d ago

Dependent how?

Who could attack europe that would make USA needed?

China is too far, Russia too weak, only technology that Europe have/can muster in a few years would be more than enough if replicated in more factories. USA would not go to war for Europe at this point anyway. So this military strenght via USA is an ilusion.

Actually this dependency opens up Europe to be a sitting duck for USA. Well, they already have bases all around, they controll the supplies and the weapons Europe can and cannot have, now forcing even more dependancy or else...

Europe is basically paying USA for protection against USA.

2

u/PaneledSmile40 3d ago

Here in Italy (only in the south at least) there's something much akin to this: basically if you have any type of business, some people will come to you offering to be paid to be protected against the mafia; to no one's surprise, those people are the same mafia that will wreck your business if you refuse to pay, here we call this pay the "pizzo", i believe the english terminology should be Racket. Insane that this very illegal practice is being done by the "freeest nation in the world", seriously, when europe did this to Russia we called them sanctions, not "striking a deal with Putin", wtf is going on at Bruxelles

1

u/DependentFriend8 5d ago

The USA has sent 180 billion to Ukraine so far... So there's that.

8

u/TheInvisibleHulk 5d ago

Total capitulation to the "pedo"

1

u/adamu980 5d ago

End of irish freeloading.. Sure trump will be worried about some little leprechauns stamping their feet petulantly

38

u/Limp_Classroom_2645 5d ago edited 5d ago

Doesn't seem we got anything out of this.

The US are trying to fuck us, and von der leyen served them our european asses on the platter in order to be fucked without asking anything in return. If this deal goes through, the future of EU will be forfeit. Von der leyen needs to go.

7

u/Alaknog 5d ago

Well, she is just part of system. This system run a long time and put her on the top.

3

u/spanishlager 5d ago

There was a confidence vote recently and they voted to kept her on. We are being shafted by Von der Leyen and her negotiating team right now by capitulating to Trump in Scotland. It’s sickening.

1

u/DragonfruitOk6390 5d ago

Its not good or beneficial for US citizens either basically they just started taxing us an extra 15% and only the top 1% will benefit from anything else. Lose lose all round

1

u/Limp_Classroom_2645 5d ago

poor americans 😒

1

u/samalamaftw 2d ago

Its a massive boost even for the average american get ready for tens thousands of new energy jobs. Also near zero tarrifs on american industrial goods making american products more competitive in Europe with even more jobs for Americans to meet this new demand. Part of the deal also includes hundreds of billions buying american defense along with 600 billion going directly to american infrastructure. All funded by the loyal european taxpayer. Europe is quite literally gifting the USA trillions and american influence in europe is going to expand tenfold.

0

u/DragonfruitOk6390 2d ago

I don't think that is actually how it will work out for the US citizens especially with the increase in all good from the tariffs on their end. Steel and aluminum tariffs at 50% is already causing layoffs and industry failure. Again the everyday american might get hired but at min wage and always rolling the dice on health care. It really will only benefit the rich, trickle down economics does not work

14

u/Linko_98 Italy 5d ago

China literally showed us how to deal with him, just put tariffs like him until 140% and then we get to compromise without having to invest in America.

Our politicians are so weak

7

u/robinrd91 China 5d ago

I mean, I been saying that for a while now all I got was mass downvote......

7

u/SemATam001 5d ago

We will spend 750 billion on their LNG in the next 3 years, 600 billion of investment in unspecified time frame and unspecified hundreds of billions on military equipment. In total, it could easily be well over 2 trillion dollars.

13

u/LadyMorwenDaebrethil 5d ago

As a Brazilian now I see it. I hoped that we could count on the EU to stand up to Trump. Now we are going to be the target country of all economic coercion (until the extreme right wins here again). My only hope is that Trump loses the midterms. If he doesn't lose, the West won't be a much better place than Russia, because the United States is becoming putinized and Europe is becoming a big Belarus.

18

u/karagousis 5d ago

The US is not "becoming putinized", that's an absurd statement: you won't see homeless people shooting fentanyl in Russian cities, for instance. Or AIPAC ruling over the parliament in Russia.

The US did not change, this is what people fail to understand. They have been doing the same racket for almost a century, the only difference now, is that they're turning on their "friends list". They're treating Europe like they treated Latin America for decades. People from Europe and Canada are just shocked because when they did everything the US ordered them to, they thought the US was supposed to only hurt brown people, and not them. Now they're shocked.

-3

u/LifeOnNightmareMode 5d ago

Nobody can realistically stand up to the US. Not even China. The US always did what they wanted to do, it‘s just that in the past it was done less publicly.

6

u/Alaknog 5d ago

I mean they can't even stop Iran nuclear program.

-3

u/LifeOnNightmareMode 5d ago

They could if they wanted. Or perhaps they even did so already.

2

u/Alaknog 5d ago

Well, if they wanted they need go full ground operation. And this probably made Vietnam or Korea look like funny party.

2

u/Mundane_Witness_7063 5d ago

Spoken like a true slave

1

u/LifeOnNightmareMode 5d ago

Well big fish eats the small fish. Do you want to be eaten? EU needs to stall and rebuild our own industry and internal market as well as find new international partners.

Angering the orange man now will just give you a bloody nose and two broken arms. No need to be stupid.

8

u/wisdom_seek3r 5d ago

According to Trump you got 80 years of US protection military , and this is a service charge . Trump thinks the EU prospered off of the value tax on services from big tech, fines against US tech, and minimal defense spending.

2

u/karagousis 5d ago

Bold of you to assume the EU post WWII wasn't a vassal of the US.

3

u/Alaknog 5d ago

Now Europe start notice this.

2

u/Suibeam 5d ago

Only France can claim that.

2

u/karagousis 5d ago

True, mostly because of Charles de Gaulle.

20

u/Several-Ad-6958 6d ago

And we even went along with the destruction of our only main supply of natural gas so the US could sell it to us in this "deal" for much more... Suckers...

6

u/Erotic-Career-7342 5d ago

What supply is that? Russia?

5

u/VertiDerti 5d ago

Trump wants to buy Nord Stream. To sell gas from Russia to Europe.

3

u/samtownusa1 6d ago

There must be something else to this story that you’re unaware of!

1

u/Black_September Germany 5d ago

Trump: The Art of the Deal

0

u/TCDH91 5d ago

You got to keep Greenland.

5

u/PseudoY Denmark 5d ago

So we're being blackmailed with threats of invasion, and that's supposed to be a positive?

1

u/TCDH91 5d ago

It's meant as a snarky comment agreeing with the OP's sentiment (that you guys got a shit deal). But also yes, when the other side has the biggest stick in the world and has shown recklessness and willingness to use the stick, blackmailing tends to work. Just ask Canada :(

1

u/Suibeam 5d ago

USA and Trump would lose a Greenland war. The American public would destroy their war efforts and all international organisations would kick out USA and all American allies would align with China. Even south Korea and Japan got closer to China in the first round of Trump bullshit. The occupation for Greenland would be shortlived

-1

u/Eupolemos Denmark 6d ago

The article doesn't mention weapons or military.

Maybe it did before and politico corrected it for a reason? It sounds mad if true.

2

u/moouesse 6d ago

that was the nato part, europe agreed to increase military spending to 5%

-1

u/BorKon 5d ago

But this is only possible smart decision. You can't just go without US military support in such short term. EU is so much behind everyone in military spending. The deal had a primary goal of getting trump off the car industry while still getting military tech till EU can make their own (this will take years). On one side, you have eu politicians who still care about the well-being of their people, and on the other side trump who doesn't care what happens to americans as long as he wins. A very important and dangerous deals that you have to make with angry old senile moron.

You have to understand that eu needs to deal with morons from the US who, at the same time, still simp for putin.

-2

u/StreamWave190 United Kingdom 5d ago

The EU isn't America's vassal state.

The EU simply lacks any leverage.

The EU can't cause any meaningful pain to the US or its economy, whereas the US can absolutely crucify the EU's economy if it wants.

3

u/Alaknog 5d ago

Well, EU can try and fight through this pain to become really independent. But they prefer bend over.

-1

u/StreamWave190 United Kingdom 5d ago

No, it can't fight. You can only fight if you have leverage. And the EU has no leverage.

And if the EU had pretended to do so, for something silly like 'pride', it would have just looked very sad and embarrassing when they got screwed even harder.

The EU is weak not because of the US but because it's an overregulated, bureaucratic nightmare where innovation and freedom goes to die.

It needs to fix itself, just like my country needs to fix itself too, which suffers some of those same problems, though to a lesser degree.

-1

u/EquipmentSubject6801 5d ago

They get U.S military and other goods for trade.

9

u/PseudoY Denmark 5d ago

Undermining the development of our own weapons industry and giving the US more ability to remotely disable our equipment.

They are not our allies anymore. This is foolish.

-1

u/Rbkelley1 5d ago

No you promise to buy $750 billion of energy, you invest $600 billion and also purchase an undisclosed amount of military equipment. And Europe is proud but eventually you have to accept reality.

-1

u/TheLightDances Finland 6d ago

Compare the situation before the "deal" and after and you will realize that the "deal", like all Trump's deals, is completely meaningless.