To elaborate on that point, it would be essentially impossible for Western European nations or Canada to run a trade surplus with the United States unless they had an unequal tariff structure. The regulatory environment, labor cost structure and economics of scale would naturally favor us, at least outside of innovations or items specific to the other nations.
That said, it appears that this, along with the savings they’ve always realized with us carrying the bulk of their defense spending water via NATO and our continental nuclear deterrence, has been propping up their socialist structures for decades and they are flipping out at the potential upset they face when this status quo is changed.
Not only do they create artificial trade imbalances with their tariffs and non-tariff barriers, but they get to collect the tariffs as an additional tax.
Between the Yuuge dose of reality Trump is feeding them, and their internal unrest over Islamization, the gig may be up for the E.U. fantasy.
Or ... they may go complete George Orwell.
Well said.
Well said.