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E.U. Agrees to Lower Tariffs on U.S. Goods
Just in, from Bloomberg News:
President Donald Trump reached an agreement Wednesday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker aimed at averting a transatlantic trade war, easing tensions stoked by Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on car imports.
The two sides agreed to expand European imports of U.S. liquified natural gas and soybeans and lower industrial tariffs on both sides, Trump said. The U.S. and European Union will “hold off on other tariffs” while negotiations proceed, Juncker said.
Max,
I wonder which side Theresa May is rooting for. She is an idiot. An idiot sitting in Margaret Thatcher’s chair. The chair doesn’t make the woman, the woman makes the chair. Too bad for Britain. May is in a mad rush to sell Britain out to Brussels. She’s Chamberlain, not Churchill. Too bad for Britain. That hideous creature Ollie Robbins crawling along beside her. This fool believed in Bolshevik propaganda after the fall of the Soviet Union. Truly an amazing idiot. Britain has a trade deal waiting for her with the US and others as long as there is a clean Brexit. May will screw that up. Too bad for Britain.
Can you imagine this man trying to understand the idiocy in today’s Britain?
Regards,
Jim
Finally! Thoughtful European diplomacy has killed Trump’s trade war!
Max, do you represent Ricochet staff in posting this? Are the editors aware of this and happy about it? Could you talk to the editors about an editors’ desk post? I’d love for everyone to be able to celebrate this together, rather than it being just a Trump supporter party.
This sounds pretty good to me. I bet it sounds even better to soybean farmers in Iowa.
Great news! Can’t wait to read the details.
Good for the European Union. I didn’t think they had it in them.
From John Hinderaker at Power Line:
No worries, they’ll snip that one in the bud once they issue the specs.
“So, the standards do indeed say that excessively bendy bananas may not be sold for human consumption, but can be for industrial processing.”
To Properly Explain The EU’s Bendy Bananas Rules: Yes, They’re Real
Steve,
They don’t have it in them. Trump gave them hell and they caved. Theresa May should have already been doing the same thing and harmonizing with Trump because the US would be Britain’s immediate new trading partner after a clean Brexit. Instead she knee-jerk attacks Trump and caved into all of the EU phony demands without putting up a fight. Some Iron Lady. She’s a Fudge Girl.
Regards,
Jim
Well, either way I’m happy when any country decides to open up trade with us. I hope this is not just a token free trade deal to humor Trump.
As someone who didn’t belive that Trump was a proponent of free trade, this looks very good. I hope I was wrong about Trump’s belief in protectionism and opposition to free trade.
I actually just forgot to change the author from me to editor’s desk before publishing and then just shrugged and left it. Please don’t read too much into it.
Aint’a that good news!
The whole EU dust-up feels like a nothing to me. Lots of talk not much will really change. Seems like politics 101. I’d love free/fair trade, but the EU will regulate to death anything they want to keep out. The real battle is with China over intellectual property. China has a weak position as they are dependent on exporting to US and their belt-and-road mega-plan is being exposed as a Ponzi scheme. The China “negotiations” will continue until North Korea is sorted out and then a trade resolution will quickly emerge with smiles all around. I say 16 months for that one. Iran is still on deck.
The devil, of course, is in the details:
https://www.weeklystandard.com/haley-byrd/donald-trump-made-a-trade-deal-with-jean-claude-juncker-and-the-european-union-heres-what-it-actually-means?_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true
But how do you really feel about Theresa May?
I heard some of the speech on the radio in my car – it was fascinating and very positive –
The devil is always in the details. This still marks a massive change in Trump’s rhetoric away from authoritarian central planning towards free markets and free trade. We should celebrate the change in rhetoric.
Sure, but let’s not chalk up a return to status quo ante as a massive win. I await further details before the celebration.
The status quo ante is better than a trade war with our allies, which was Trump’s stated desire not that long ago.
Sure, any time Trump decides not to be awful its a good thing, its just not something to be celebrated. I don’t throw a party when my dog doesn’t pee in the house – that’s just what she’s supposed to do.
My dog went through a phase where he frequently pooped in basement laundry room. We praised him when he stopped doing it.
I think thee EU is more worried about cheap agricultural products from Africa than they are about cheap agricultural products from the USA.
Yeah, this is a big sign that we Trump skeptics were wrong. Thank Heaven!
This is the elevated discourse I come to Ricochet for.
Wait. This is better than a return to the status quo before, isn’t it? At least if the details are worked out in line with the stated goals.
It’s beginning to appear that there’s less to the EU deal than the White House is claiming. The two sides have agreed to further talks, and, in the meantime, tariffs will be left as they are.
Trump has kept the threat to raise tariffs on automobiles. The EU has agreed to purchase more natural gas (which they probably would have done anyway) and to lower tariffs on soybeans. Woo hoo.
On the other hand, the fact that the two sides have stopped escalating is good news. If Trump is willing to claim victory and call off the war, I’m not going to complain.
Not really, the status quo ante, as in the policy of the Clinton/Bush/Obama administrations was to work towards the exact same goals and the TTIP had significant progress prior to the 2016 election season when progress stopped and then was tabled after President Trump took office.
Wait a minute. How do we know that talks stalled after the change of presidents?
Ok, fair enough.