[…] the notion that Europe would be forced to choose between the two countries “doesn’t allow much room for the idea of European Union agency or any recognition of its major significance as a commercial bloc.”
Exactly this, Europe will not ditch either anytime soon.
They should definitely keep a safe distance from the dumpster fire the US is now, but the EU still very much needs the US: America has the command and intel structure needed to deter and maybe even fight back Russia, almost all governments work with American tech (Windows, Office, iPhones, AWS and cyber security tech like from Crowd strike), financial systems are based on us techs and the big corpos are very intertwined, also big law firms operate on both sides of the Atlantic, same goes for (social) media. European governments just can’t switch to a different brand of coke like individual consumers do. Same goes for china, they basically produce everything more complex than a patato and if it’s made in Vietnam or Cambodja or whatever, China might still be involved.
Long story short, EU can’t pick a side and sit out the storm. If things went different I totally would have seen EU siding with their American ally, but that bridge has obviously been burned.
Can definitely recommend reading the article if you want to better understand why the US will not be able to ‘win over’ the EU. It’s a good read.
US products don’t dominate the information technology sector because they are inherently better than alternatives. They dominate because the US is the 800 pound gorilla and it’s just easier to use the defaults the US churns out. Every time a government uses proprietary technology, especially for anything that citizens/residents have to interact with, they give up a bit of their sovereignty. People and businesses that interact with the government shouldn’t be compelled to buy particular products from a foreign company just to interact with their government. I think Europe would be wise to move to open standards as much as possible, and start rolling a lot of their own technology. No, it’s not the easiest choice for the next quarter, or next year, but it will serve them well in the long term. The US is just too volatile.
The European Union will not decouple from the Chinese economy as a condition for reaching a trade deal with Donald Trump’s administration, the European Commission said on Tuesday amid reports that the White House has asked countries to do exactly that.
https://lemm.ee/post/62079326
The US wants to contain China. They currently don’t look like it but they are the country of the playbook. They haven’t started the tariff madness without a plan to decouple Europe from China. Otherwise the tariffs would be suicide.
Well if there is a plan I’m still waiting to see it. It’s good they’re subtle about it though, because playing mind games with your allies isn’t a good way of getting them to like you again.
This is the show for the people. The tariffs were discussed in Davos in January and were mentioned in the Washington Post in 2023. Project 2025 exists for some years. The leaders know, the journalists know, and yet, everybody was surprised when it happened.
They pretend to be surprised and likewise, they would have objected much much stronger before, if the allies wouldn’t accept what is happening.
Yes, the world isn’t that controllable. If it were a bunch of dictators meeting up in secret, maybe, but a group of democratic elected individuals, socialites and business people (all with their own agenda!) could never get something that elaborate done without some journalist somewhere picking up on it. There are many big media corpos, but there is also enough smaller ones who haven’t said anything like ‘european governments knew about the plan with the 25% tariffs that later were lowered to the planned 10%, because they secretly agreed to decouple from china without the public finding out’.
Exactly this, Europe will not ditch either anytime soon.
Canada is definitely ditching the US, why shouldn’t Europe. As an American who will b negatively impacted, I can’t help but still encourage it.
They should definitely keep a safe distance from the dumpster fire the US is now, but the EU still very much needs the US: America has the command and intel structure needed to deter and maybe even fight back Russia, almost all governments work with American tech (Windows, Office, iPhones, AWS and cyber security tech like from Crowd strike), financial systems are based on us techs and the big corpos are very intertwined, also big law firms operate on both sides of the Atlantic, same goes for (social) media. European governments just can’t switch to a different brand of coke like individual consumers do. Same goes for china, they basically produce everything more complex than a patato and if it’s made in Vietnam or Cambodja or whatever, China might still be involved.
Long story short, EU can’t pick a side and sit out the storm. If things went different I totally would have seen EU siding with their American ally, but that bridge has obviously been burned.
Can definitely recommend reading the article if you want to better understand why the US will not be able to ‘win over’ the EU. It’s a good read.
US products don’t dominate the information technology sector because they are inherently better than alternatives. They dominate because the US is the 800 pound gorilla and it’s just easier to use the defaults the US churns out. Every time a government uses proprietary technology, especially for anything that citizens/residents have to interact with, they give up a bit of their sovereignty. People and businesses that interact with the government shouldn’t be compelled to buy particular products from a foreign company just to interact with their government. I think Europe would be wise to move to open standards as much as possible, and start rolling a lot of their own technology. No, it’s not the easiest choice for the next quarter, or next year, but it will serve them well in the long term. The US is just too volatile.
Exactly this, Europe will ditch China soon.
Exactly this, they won’t.
Ukrain also objected to the mineral deal.
The US wants to contain China. They currently don’t look like it but they are the country of the playbook. They haven’t started the tariff madness without a plan to decouple Europe from China. Otherwise the tariffs would be suicide.
Well if there is a plan I’m still waiting to see it. It’s good they’re subtle about it though, because playing mind games with your allies isn’t a good way of getting them to like you again.
This is the show for the people. The tariffs were discussed in Davos in January and were mentioned in the Washington Post in 2023. Project 2025 exists for some years. The leaders know, the journalists know, and yet, everybody was surprised when it happened.
They pretend to be surprised and likewise, they would have objected much much stronger before, if the allies wouldn’t accept what is happening.
Maybe go outside, see some sunlight or something.
You mean this is too much conspiracy?
Yes, the world isn’t that controllable. If it were a bunch of dictators meeting up in secret, maybe, but a group of democratic elected individuals, socialites and business people (all with their own agenda!) could never get something that elaborate done without some journalist somewhere picking up on it. There are many big media corpos, but there is also enough smaller ones who haven’t said anything like ‘european governments knew about the plan with the 25% tariffs that later were lowered to the planned 10%, because they secretly agreed to decouple from china without the public finding out’.