Trump announces tariffs on EU in retaliation to VAT
Trump announces tariffs on EU in retaliation to VAT
The president has initiated a process to establish reciprocal tariffs for all, but plans to apply them specifically to target any perceived fiscal, regulatory or commercial barrier
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In particular, he aims to target the European Union in response to its value-added tax (VAT), which applies to all products and is viewed by Washington as a non-tariff barrier.
What? This makes no economic sense.
Can someone enlighten me what this is about?
You always need a casus belli to start a war. Nobody said it needs to be a reasonable, logical or even true thing.
I guess we learned by now, that basically nothing Trump says makes economic sense (not for the US in general, that is). That being said: Even though I get used to Trump's insanity, I'm definitely surprised by this one as well.
It's fucking stupid. Most EU countries charge VAT (value added tax) on pretty much everything you buy. It doesn't change based on where the product is made or anything, so it is a level playing field, therefore I don't know wtf Cheeto is attempting to achieve here.
It's Trump. It doesn't have to make sense.
He says something bizarrely stupid in like every speech, and every indication is it's because doesn't know better. Even his supporters know it.
That being said, in this case he probably started with the tariff, and then worked backwards to a vaguely legal justification to keep the courts away.