Maybe, but I think you’re overselling the EU a bit. Yeah, there have been some high profile changes (in terms of stuff that makes the media), but I wonder how much that actually matters.
The EU hasn’t really ever been a big importer of US goods anyway, at least not for decades. The biggest importers of US products are Mexico, China, and Canada. The US imports a fair amount from the EU, so if they retaliate with tariffs of their own, the US will just buy less from them, which will hurt the EU more than the US.
The US will have a bunch of negatives in the short term too, but I guess we’ll see if those are permanent or just represent a shifting in trade partners.
Oh, to be clear, I don’t think the US has been dethroned on the world stage in terms of being the largest single elephant in the room. It’s just that the weight between the US elephant and all the other elephants (combined) has evened out quite a lot.
These tariffs might well do a lot to swing that even further.
They absolutely could. What matters is what other countries do in response.
As an American, I’m not happy right now because things are more expensive without a good reason. Tariffs just end up being a hidden sales tax, and that sucks. We don’t need more manufacturing jobs here unless we can do it cheaper or better. Keep good paying jobs here and send the lower paying jobs where they’ll be appreciated.
Maybe, but I think you’re overselling the EU a bit. Yeah, there have been some high profile changes (in terms of stuff that makes the media), but I wonder how much that actually matters.
The EU hasn’t really ever been a big importer of US goods anyway, at least not for decades. The biggest importers of US products are Mexico, China, and Canada. The US imports a fair amount from the EU, so if they retaliate with tariffs of their own, the US will just buy less from them, which will hurt the EU more than the US.
The US will have a bunch of negatives in the short term too, but I guess we’ll see if those are permanent or just represent a shifting in trade partners.
Oh, to be clear, I don’t think the US has been dethroned on the world stage in terms of being the largest single elephant in the room. It’s just that the weight between the US elephant and all the other elephants (combined) has evened out quite a lot.
These tariffs might well do a lot to swing that even further.
They absolutely could. What matters is what other countries do in response.
As an American, I’m not happy right now because things are more expensive without a good reason. Tariffs just end up being a hidden sales tax, and that sucks. We don’t need more manufacturing jobs here unless we can do it cheaper or better. Keep good paying jobs here and send the lower paying jobs where they’ll be appreciated.
I’m also an American. And I am frankly livid about the tariffs.