You know why sanctions are so effective? It’s because of the sheer scale. When the whole world is against you, there’s not much room to maneuver. And since they write the rules, your options are limited. Hence why the isolation policy towards the US, which I’ve already mentioned elsewhere, will be the smartest move going forward IMO.
The ABSOLUTELY biggest joke is, where all these born victim types like Trump see nothing but grievances.things were and are actually as fine and dandy as they're ever gonna get in the real world. The European Union and the United States have the world's largest bilateral trade and investment relationship, and enjoy the most integrated economic relationship in the world. Taking goods, services and investment into account, the EU and the US are each other’s largest trading partners by far. EU-US trade in goods and services reached an impressive €1.6 trillion in 2023. This means that every day, €4.4 billion worth of goods and services cross the Atlantic between the EU and the US. EU-US goods and services trade is balanced: the difference between EU exports to the US and US exports to the EU stood at €48 billion in 2023; the equivalent of just 3% of the total trade between the EU and the US. https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/e...region/countries-and-regions/united-states_en It's balanced. WTF is Trump whinging about.
The willingness was there on both sides, just didn't pan out last time around. These things are complex and take time, but are doable. But again, the mere fact that both sides sat down at a table to try and thrash sthg out shows that there was a real and demonstrated mutual desire to find a way to a free trade agreement. Salient point being tho that things were just great and mutually benefical without a free trade agreement.
The vix of 58 tells me rather that these are investors who are irrational now more than anything else. But they will come around. Will anyone default? I don't think so. Tariff crisis is nothing like credit crisis when investors lose real money and nothing can be done about that. And the great depression that people on this forum like to refer to was triggered by credit crisis not tariff crisis.
I guess this is what caused the massive move up this morning, this plus the rumour of a 90 day freeze.
Thats another thing, a zero for zero offer from the EU had been on the table for weeks before Trumps tariffs. European Union EU offered ‘zero-for-zero’ deal to US weeks before tariff announcement Cars and other goods were to be included, according to EU trade commissioner, who says offer is still on table The EU has said it offered the US a “zero-for-zero” tariff deal on cars and industrial goods weeks before Donald Trump launched his trade war, but that it would “not wait endlessly” to defend itself. Maros Šefčovič, the EU commissioner for trade, said he had proposed zero tariffs on cars and a range of industrial goods, such as pharmaceutical products, rubber and machinery, during his first meeting with the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, on 19 February. He said the EU remained open for talks, while suggesting nothing would be concluded soon: “Right now we are in the early stages of discussions, because the US view tariffs not as a tactical step, but as a corrective measure.” He added: “While the EU remains open to and strongly prefers negotiations, we will not wait endlessly.” He listed EU actions including retaliatory countermeasures. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU had offered “zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods” and that offer remained on the table. However, at a press conference on Monday evening, Trump did not appear keen on the offer. He told reporters that zero-zero tariffs were not going to happen, adding: “The European Union’s been very bad to us. They’re going to have to buy their energy from us, because they need it and they’re going to have to buy it from us. They can buy it, we can knock off $350bn in one week.” Šefčovič earlier rejected suggestions EU countries would abandon VAT, one of Trump’s grievances. He said the EU had spent “some time and energy” to explain to US counterparts how the sales tax works, citing its use in more than 160 countries. “We are ready to discuss, to look at things, but it has to be a mutually advantageous solution,” he said. EU member states will vote on Wednesday over a first round of possible retaliation, in response to Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium announced last month. The bloc vowed to target up to €26bn (£22.3bn) worth of emblematic US goods, such as Harley-Davidson motorbikes, orange juice and jeans, with tariffs due to come into force from 15 April. The French delegate for trade, Laurent Saint-Martin, said on Monday that no option on goods or services could be excluded and that the EU could be “extremely, extremely aggressive also in return”, referring to the bloc’s anti-coercion instrument. He said: “Our end goal remains the same, to negotiate this escalation and negotiate back to where things were, and if it’s not possible, of course, [the] European Union must react, must react firmly and must react proportionately.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...o-deal-to-us-weeks-before-tariff-announcement