Posted on 07/08/2018 5:42:59 PM PDT by Olog-hai
The French government insisted on Sunday that Washington should expect united retaliation from Europe to further tariff increases after Germany signaled it was prepared to negotiate.
With Germany’s powerful car industry facing the threat of higher U.S. duties, Chancellor Angela Merkel said last Thursday she would back a lowering of European Union levies on imports of U.S. cars.
“If tomorrow there is an increase in tariffs, like in the car industry, our reaction should be united and strong to show that Europe is a united and sovereign power,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
“The question is no longer whether or not there will be a trade war; the war has already started,” he added, speaking at an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence, southern France. […]
“Let it be known that if we are attacked, we will react collectively and we will react firmly,” Le Maire said. …
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
President Trump can pit German against France with two small actions. First, move our troops to Poland since Germany isn’t paying its NATO dues. Second, it can raise tariffs on cars. France doesn’t care about either, but Germany will care a lot.
Time to leave NATO and close our bases in Europe. Maybe if they had to pay for something once in awhile they wouldn’t be so damned arrogant.
The US must buy the Junk of the World or else ,LOL
“If tomorrow there is an increase in tariffs, like in the car industry, our reaction should be united and strong to show that Europe is a united and sovereign power,” said the pipsqueak cheese-eating surrender monkey ...
So it’s okay if Europe puts tariff’s on our stuff but when we do the same they get their knickers in a twist over it. I notice French cars are no longer sold in the US - quality or the lack thereof no doubt.
I rented a Renault in France years ago. It was a piece of junk right down there with a Yugo.
There us an old joke about French cars...
At birth, everyone is assigned a certain amount of bad luck. Those that want to use it up quickly buy French cars.
Because that’s all they have! We rented Renault and Puegeuot or whatever, wasn’t any better. The next time I was there I just rented a Mercedes. I was talking to Canadians at the counter line and they also had horrible experiences with Renault crap cars.
In the USA: last year of Citroën was 1974, last year of Renault was 1987, and last year of Peugeot was 1992.
I rented a Renault Mégane in Ireland back in the early 2000s. The design was so bizarre with respect to the placing of the steering column, that as I pushed down on the brake and clutch pedals, I could actually feel the steering column rub against my shoes as I turned the wheel.
That’s exactly what they want. It’s always a bad idea to give such people what they want most, especially if it’s an excuse to go full-bore totalitarian.
At least Merkel’s considering lowering tariffs on US cars, or so it says here. That’s an admission of waging trade war on the USA.
The EU auto tariff is four times bigger than ours: 10% versus 2.5%. Trump has a point and the Germans know it.
America should pivot to Eastern Europe.
EU is a joke.
Le Pusuie Fart
I’m sick of Europe to be perfectly honest. I wouldn’t mind a complete blockade of imports followed by a tweet: I hope your new trading partner, China, is also willing to protect you against Russian aggression.
Russia and China are currently partners in many things. And Merkel has shown herself willing to go into Molotov-Ribbentrop territory, particularly with respect to the Nord Stream pipeline. It wouldn’t serve us well to hang Eastern Europe out to dry, which is something that Obama was effectively doing. (Remember, the EU is not all of Europe, although they dishonestly refer to themselves as “Europe”.)
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