FLASH
Shkruar nga Daniel Imwinkelried
US President Donald Trump is putting pressure on the Europeans with his threats of tariffs. They are finding it difficult to take countermeasures. However, there is an effective response that would cost very little…
With his constant threats of tariffs, US President Donald Trump is destabilising the global economy. And he is putting unnecessary strain on relations between long-time allies Europe and the US.
Are American business leaders willing to pay for Trump's glory?
Both of these things are now undeniable facts. But how do you get Trump to see them?
A viable approach has emerged: Europeans should join forces with the American business community and campaign persistently in the US against even higher tariffs. There are plenty of PR professionals in the US to do just that.
From a European perspective, it’s hard to imagine that what Trump has been doing recently on the political stage is in the best interests of American business leaders. Consider the following scenario: a week and a half ago, Trump threatened eight European countries with an additional 10 percent tariff if they rejected his proposal to annex Greenland. Among them was economic powerhouse Germany.
Many European goods are already subject to a 15 percent tariff in the U.S. Now let’s put ourselves in the shoes of American entrepreneurs and embrace their perspective: there are likely countless numbers of them who depend on intermediate products from Germany, for example.
Companies would have to pay a 25 percent tariff on these goods if Trump had carried out his threat of tariffs starting February 1. And all this for the sake of a project that the US president seems to be obsessively pursuing: the acquisition of Greenland. American businessmen may be good patriots, but they won’t want to foot the bill for Trump’s glory.
Moreover, it would have created administrative chaos. While Trump’s tariff would have only applied to 6 EU countries, European industrial goods often contain components from several EU member states; therefore, the final manufacturer would have had to provide accurate proof of the origin of the intermediate products. Depending on the circumstances, a tariff of 15 or, in some cases, 25 percent would have been imposed.
Proving this would further complicate customs bureaucracy. Meanwhile, companies are already complaining about how difficult it is to trade with the US.
Europeans will never have Trump's influence.
The Europeans are threatening the US with countermeasures if Trump imposes new import tariffs or even violates Greenland's right to self-determination, despite its initial return. Whether this is just rhetoric or if the Europeans are truly serious is never clear to them.
In the case of Greenland, however, they probably mean it. The crux of the EU's problem, however, is that at least 15 of the 27 member states would have to agree to countermeasures. And these measures would have to inflict pain on the US in the event of a conflict, without hurting the Europeans too much.
European companies also suffered from retaliatory tariffs, for example. It would be completely negligent if European pension funds sold US government bonds to hurt Americans. This idea is being floated, but it would destabilize the financial system.
The union of states must therefore weigh its options, and for this reason it is not as strong as it would like to be. Each member state is jealously guarded against being disproportionately affected by an economic conflict with the US.
The EU Commission cannot decide as it pleases in a trade dispute. And that is why it is not as effective as Trump.
On the other hand, looking for allies in the American business world costs nothing. For the joint fight against tariffs, there is also a motto that is somewhat familiar to Americans from domestic politics: "It's the economy, Donald!". /Adapted from NZZ /
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