• huppakee@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    EU nations could commit to spending an extra $56 billion on American products to end the tariff showdown with US President Donald Trump, EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday.

    Sefcovic, who has been leading negotiations with the US administration, said that “certain progress” had been made but the European Union would not accept the United States’ 10 percent tariff on EU goods.

    Sefcovic said that once US services are taken into account, the US trade deficit with the 27 EU nations is about 50 billion euros ($56 billion) a year.

    “If what we are looking at as a problem in the deficit is €50 billion, I believe that we can really  . . .  solve this problem very quickly through LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) purchases, through some agricultural products like soyabeans, or other areas,” the commissioner told the FT.

    This guy can’t be seriously going along with Trump’s narrative of trade deficits, right?

    • 9point6@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      through LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) purchases

      Or we could invest that €50bn into something like a massive wind farm, battery storage or similar and increase independence from oil entirely

      Hell, if they were selling renewables competitively, it might be a more compelling argument.

      • timestatic@feddit.org
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        12 hours ago

        We will not do it out of kindness but since the US gov. doesn’t understand how the economy works its better to save our economy for 50 bn instead of tanking it by letting tariffs stay in place. I personally avoid US products but the effects for our economy would be way worse if we don’t reach a deal. Trump isn’t reasonable and we rely on the US militarily to a certain extend. Let the toddler have his win since stability is what our markets need the most. Yes its extortion but we need to minimize damage. We are the reasonable and reliable ones in the new world order so the soft power the US loses is way worse in the end.

      • huppakee@lemm.ee
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        2 days ago

        Yes but America doesn’t sell those, besides if we’d spend that much on tech it might be a losing game if we spend it outside the eu