Posted on 04/07/2025 8:13:16 AM PDT by Mariner
"Europe is always ready for a good deal," Ursula von der Leyen says as trade tensions with the United States reach all-time high.
The European Commission has offered the United States a deal to remove tariffs on all industrial goods as part of the trade negotiations, Ursula von der Leyen has said while stressing her intention to retaliate against Donald Trump's policies should talks fail.
Trump has announced a 20% across-the-board tariff on imports from the European Union, set to take effect on 9 April. Steel, aluminum and cars are subject to a separate 25% rate. In total, over €380 billion in EU-made products will be affected.
Pharmaceuticals, copper, lumber, semiconductors and energy have been exempted.
"We stand ready to negotiate with the US. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners," the Commission president said on Monday afternoon.
(Excerpt) Read more at euronews.com ...
Everyone wants to preserve the ability to feed themselves.
Now get rid of VAT.
Not good enough. Hold out until they back off harassment of US companies and release political prisoners.
LOL! Please call President Trump and let him know now!
What about cars?
Cars are industrial goods.
Why get rid of VAT? It applies equally to their own domestic goods and to imports. It is waived on exports but then US sales tax applies. If anything there may need to be some equalization.
The EU will have other ways to limit American cars being sold in Europe. Like ultra restrictive emission standards on cars from makers with 4-letter names beginning in “F” and ending in “D”.
Pharmaceuticals, copper, lumber, semiconductors and energy have been exempted.
Exempted from any deal, or exempted from tarrifs?
It’s way more likely that the U.S. gets a VAT than that the EU eliminates its VAT. Equalization is the way to go. The U.S. could enact a VAT only on imports that allows a credit for state sales taxes.
Peter Navarro was on CNBC talking about how the zero-for-zero trade deals are a distraction because countries including the EU have not tariff barriers to the US Products.
The EU in particular has so many restrictions on US Agriculture products that even with ZERO tariffs the US won’t be selling any agricultural products in the EU.
Here’s an old article about how the EU keeps US chicken products out of the EU.
I’ll bet it does not include cars.
“The EU will have other ways to limit American cars being sold in Europe. Like ultra restrictive emission standards on cars from makers with 4-letter names beginning in “F” and ending in “D”.
Then “no deal”.
Or, revocation.
EU is on the ropes without the US market. Already French companies have told Macron they will invest more in the US.
Japanese, Korean and German automakers have been eating our lunch in the car markets. American automakers have to up their quality.
It’s working!
Example of why all this is a joke.
If you have no tariff, but tax vehicles based on cubic displacement as they do in much of Europe, US manufactured vehicles will be at a disadvantage, regardless of actual emissions, where for many years we actually led the way. For example: first catalyst, unleaded fuel 15 years before the Germans.
The problem is that there are THOUSANDS of ways where through safety, environmental or tax codes you can discriminate and give domestics a leg up (((once past the border)))...
The way of dealing with trade in the past has failed.
The new way forward is to be focused on the bottom line, trade deficits.
Knowing the Europeans they’ll likely team-up with Russia to pass-through cheaply-made items to the US...just to screw-over Trump.
Maybe after we get rid of sales taxes.
“Now get rid of VAT.”
Maybe I’m confused, but doesn’t the VAT apply to both imports and domestically-produced goods used for internal-consumption? If so, that would sound pretty level to me.
Everyone wants to preserve the ability to feed themselves.
It is not just about feeding themselves but about protecting small private farms. Small farmers are a big constituency in Europe who demand, and get, big protections and subsidies.
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