Von der Leyen and Trump strike EU-US deal with 15% tariff for the bloc

Ashamed to be European today. For all the tough talk and strong worded letters we really can't blame anyone else about being so dependent on other forces when we capitulate so easily to these thugs.
For all the talk about holding the line with other allies such as Canada, who are much closer and keeping their elbows up, this is truly disgraceful. Plus with all the far right influence popping up all over the west at the same time, which isn't a coincidence.
Besides, with the way the US is going, Trump or not, how long until this deal is null and void by them?
- This is temporary as the world adjusts to omit the US. It takes time to reorient your economy away from a consumer economy, and the US. I expect it will happen faster than many expect, as the US will no longer be a desirable supplier or consumer of your goods.
  They are isolating themselves.
  
  Yeah, that's my one hope, to be honest.
  I understand needing them for now, because there's kind of change needed is just that huge. But I hope we actively put in the work to break away from this dependence long term.

Anyone disappointed should just boycott everything coming from the USA, from companies owned by the USA (PE, stock market, etc).
Start with easy stuff. Like benzin/diesel for your car. Don't go to esso or jet. Then, stop drinking Coca-Cola, Pepsi, etc. or going to the McDonald's. Boycott Tesla, Ford & Co.
Cancel your Netflix and Amazon prime, and buy CDs, DVDs and blue rays.
Stop buying iPhones. Move away from Microsoft and Google as much as possible. In your private life and your companies. Go open source.
Trade wars are a problem only for the seller if there are no buyers.
- and buy CDs, DVDs and blue rays.
  Or just pirate your media...
  
  To paraphrase Jeff Winger:
  You may have read it, I may have thought it, but I didn't write it.
- How is buying DVDs and blurays better than Netflix subscription, if they are American content?
  
  For one: ownership. Nobody can take away your DVDs legally.
  Second: you can buy 2nd hand. Only the (local) reseller makes money.
  Third: you can buy local content...
  Fourth: no recurring sales for Netflix & co. And this is huge. Because they use their ARR to get financing, Netflix & co need you to pay monthly. Buying DVDs is much less predictable and does not give them the same financial power.
  Fifth: you can lend them. Want to share a movie with friends? They didn't need their own subscription. You can just lend them the DVD. Again: less sales.
  Finally: once you start going this, your discover your local ecosystem. Libraries, associations, forums etc. With doing like this for culture (Books, music, movies), tools, and even expertise.
  
  Buy it second hand. They can have their initial sale a decade ago and no residual income. I'll buy it from you when you don't want it or need some cash! Better burn a backup as well before it gets scratched. Don't accidentally lose twenty backups at your friends houses though.
  
  Well, the DVDs and Blu-rays do not have to be of American media, but if they are, they can be of the several European special boutiques and distributors that can merely license the media you specifically care for. Although I'm sure that there are many American Filmmakers and artists we all still want to support and even increase visibility amongst the current circumstances. This allows one to have that level of targeting and to have specific and personal input, instead of just contributing to giant conglomerates that screw the artists out of fair revenue before moving to screw their costumers at every turn, which is what streaming services are and do.
  With physical media, one can also borrow or lend amongst each other at leisure, check them for free from libraries or buy them second hand. This is also about cultural sovereignty and increases the resiliency in communities when it comes to culture. And in times of instability and economic hardship it becomes even more necessary.
  Media is like anything else, the more people owning it the better. We don't want culture to be in the hands of just a few. That is the wrong direction for everything.
  But I'm suspect because I've never stopped this habit and I prefer European cinema and World Cinema to American in the first place.
  I also enjoy going to screenings in my local cineclub. There's a wonderful sense of community and great discussions to have. And it's so much cheaper and fulfilling than going to the Multiplex which is impersonal and encourages mindlesness.
  If you're more into TV series, the U.S. does have the monopoly of interest. But I assume this is much more about visibility and a failure of venues to publicise TV series of other places. The absence of TV Series Festivals like Film Festivals that can obtain visibility for them is partially the answer that is missing. But I still remember the craze with the Scandinavian output, which had hits like "Forbrydelsen" (The Killing) or Bron (The Bridge), and both got American Remakes that were quite disappointing in comparison. But the biggest hit that came out of that was probably Borgen. Wonderful show.
  But even in English, I much prefer to watch shows coming out of Britain than the U.S. And with BBC, you only need a VPN to access their shows and documentaries for free. It's public domain there. If you are from the U.k. than this is an unnecessary step.
  Some people have suggested that we should push the E.U. to start a streaming service that would make content created by European Public owned Networks and Radiostations available to all countries in the EU for free. It's already free. It just needs distribution. It's a great idea. Although the BBC is Brittish and therefore not EU, a deal could probably still be achieved to include them.
  Anyway, I will still always suggest for anyone to not get too stuck in algorithmic suggestions of Cinema, Music and Art in General. It gets stale, and doesn't force us to challenge ourselves in any form and in any new directions. Part of the problem we have in civilization right now is precisely stemming from this lack of broadening personal horizons and challenging individual perceptions that comes with the feedback loop that algorithms reinforce and cause the so called "bubbles" and "echo chambers" that so many like to point out, but so very few actually enjoy breaking out of.
- Been doing all that for over a decade...
  
  Terrific! Congrats!
- Anyone disappointed should just boycott everything coming from the USA
  This is the lazy and ultimately wrong way. Sure, it doesn't hurt, but its actual effect is not very powerful.
  The better way to get back at USA is to start doing things better than they do. Stop fucking around and do stuff. We might be there in some limited areas, but in general the US rules over the world economically because they're good at making things.
  
  I disagree with your statement about quality. For instance, I'd much rather have a German car than an American one. America doesn't really make things any more anyway, most of it has been outsourced to China or other countries. The manufacturing expertise has mostly left the US. See for instance some of the most recent videos done by Smarter Every Day on YouTube where he talks about how hard it is to make a purely American made product.
  What they have in the US is money so they can buy stocks and other things like that, so they make money off of things that others make.
  They also make a ton of money off of everybody using the dollar as the global trade currency. That means that they can print a lot more money in the US without it causing as much inflation as it would otherwise, and the money they print are released into the US economy. They basically get to tax the holdings of companies all over the world that way.
  
  This is the lazy and ultimately wrong way. Sure, it doesn’t hurt, but its actual effect is not very powerful.
  If consumer boycotts wouldn't be powerful, why did the US pass anti-boycott bills? Why is there so much lobbying against consumer boycotts?
  Also the US isn't good at making things. If they were, they would have a positive trade balance with most countries. Instead they have a negative balance and a lot of their exports are crude resources and other low-level refined products from them.
  
  Do they? Most founders located in the USA are either heirs of Fortunes or foreigners.
  They're especially good at:
  Financing: they have been printing money line there's no tomorrow and pumped their stock market
  Marketing: many of us here aren't native English speakers and yet, we communicate in English. This puts native speaker at an advantage
  So no. They don't do so much better things. They are just reckless their own people for the sake of the economy.
  And yes. Not buying from them, especially for things that are commodities (benzin, diesel) or bad for your health (soda, junk food) is actually hurting them.
  
  You're not wrong but you're wrong when you say "ultimately wrong".
  More than one thing can help here.
  And your counter-proposal to "stop fucking around and do stuff" is not so hot.
  Better advice: contact your MP's right now because this hasn't been ratified yet.
  edit:
  in general the US rules over the world economically because they’re good at making things
  oof. 🤪 Even in the glorified 1950s neither part of this statement has been (generally) true.

So disappointed in Van der Leyen - this is weak! Steel tax remains at 50%! And EU is going to buy more military equipment from US, madness!
The only positive is that signed agreements doesn't really seem to mean anything anymore...
- So true. Australia has a Free Trade Agreement with the US signed in 2011 (I think?). And, America enjoys a trade deficit with us. We buy more of your shit than you buy from us. Still, Trump hit us with a 10% tariff for some goddamn reason. We've paid about a billion dollars on a down payment for Virginia Class Submarines that we will never, ever see.
  It will be about a century before the world will trust the US again.
- That’s my impression also. It looks like the USA is just looking to dump their shitty old military equipment and Ursula just said yes and then felt the need to justify it with weak stand on it…
- Is there anything right Van der Leyen did as the commissioner? 🙄
  
  Don't ask what she did before moving to EU.
  
  Yeah, not a fan, but she's a good representative of the EPP and all it stands for.
  
  Yes, absolutely - and that's why I'm disappointed here. I expected her to do better, not just kneel to "emperor" Trump.
- So disappointed in V[o]n der Leyen
  So I have to assume you're not German, because otherwise you'd have known that she's a garbage politician. She got promoted to a EU position because she was no longer tenable nationally. The reason she doesn't get flak from Germany right now is that she's from the conservative party that recently got elected.
  It seems get Wikipedia pages got somewhat scrubbed because a lot of the scandals are missing. Here are some from memory:
  Internet stop signs: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/ein-stoppschild-furs-reine-gewissen-4758619.html
  Lost court case against weapon manufacturer H&K: https://www.lto.de/recht/nachrichten/n/lg-koblenz-8o19815-heckler-koch-g36-sturmgewehr-nicht-mangelhaft-vone,-das-n-der-leyen-verliert (actually least egregious one on the list, but still incompetent)
  The consulting affair that involved cronyism while she was minister of defense: summary at https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ursula-von-der-leyen-und-die-berateraffaere-faktisches-komplettversagen-a-55458b1c-64bd-436b-acdf-75afcef0f5d3
  Destroyed evidence: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/vonderleyen-handydaten-101.html

Von der Layen did. Not EU citizens. Many are, let,s say, a bit angry about this issue. Shameful.

Article title:
Von der Leyen and Trump strike EU-US trade deal with 15% tariff for the bloc
- @hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz Could you fix the editorialized title, please? (Note from the mod.)
  
  I’ve tried, but for some reason I’m not able to anymore. Maybe it’s my noobness, or my Blorp on ios app.
  Edit: it is the app. Edited using lemmy web ui. thanks for informing me.

So this was a deal to save the car industry and it keeps us addicted to fossil fuel. I'm disappointed to say the least.

That's it. I'm going to vote for explicitly anti-American parties at the next election.
- We are now in a -liberal economy. Your wallet has more (or at least as much) power than your ballot.

What is this title?
- yeah, what's with the title?!
  OP don't use your opinion as a title. Seriously
  
  My opinion on the matter is irrelevant, but this title is bullshit.

I thought this might help:
So basically no fossil fuels and do not get sick. Things you want to do anyway, but the later is unfortunatly kind of hard.
- Did not know oil was #1. Are the USA also the #1 provider of oil for the EU?
  Anyhow, asssuming the 15% are higher than what it was before, this just plays into Russia's hands. Trump is such an idiot, and von der Leyen is not much better, although the EU going for this cannot be completely her responsibility.
  
  The US is the biggest source of oil for the EU, but only has 15% market share in Q1 this year. However Russia was at 25% in Q1 of 2022. So it is certainly possible to replace it. Especially by driving less and going for EVs.
  But also the EU basically not charging tariffs on US exports to the EU. This is insanely one sided and should be shut down.

Trump called the Japanese deal he never actually made the biggest deal in history, this could be the same thing here ultimately
- Same thing with China and the UAE as well. The "deal" is not worth the paper it is printed on, it's merely a band-aid to get down from the 30% tariff ASAP.

This is still just a tentative deal that has to be ratified by all the countries so there's still hope.
Friendly reminder that you can use this site to find your MPs in the European Parliament. Remind them that they are there for and because of us, and let them know what you think of this kind of deal making.
If EU doesn't stop this recent festival of stupidity the European project will go nowhere fast. There's already a huge problem with the rise of euro-scepticism and these bellends just add fuel to fire. I'm tired boss.

This is a mistake. It shows weakness. Build trade partners elsewhere and ignore trump and the US.

Do note that a lot of early reporting on Trump's "deals" in the past have often been grossly misleading. Often counting existing agreements as new one or leaving critical details out
For instance, I recall a lot of people were questioning a deal with Mexico earlier as bending the knee that turned out to largely be just be puff agreements that they had already made before Trump
There's a decent chance that this is continuing that pattern. Though I can't say for certain of course

Asked about what concessions, if any, the US had made in the talks, the Commission chief replied with a general remark about shared prosperity.
"The starting point was an imbalance, a surplus (of goods) on our side and a deficit on the US side. We wanted to rebalance the trade relation, and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic," she said.
Let me get this straight… EU has a lot of goods the US needs. US does not have a lot of goods the EU needs. So the EU, which seems to have the upper hand, agrees to sell their goods to the US at a lower price? Is this mainly to avoid stepping on the toes of EU merchants that would like to sell to the US market specifically?
- I guess it is to keep the US committed to NATO tbh. Let's see if it works, though
  
  Did someone say "appeasement"?

We made a deal to give the bully half of our lunch money. Until the bully decides otherwise.

Nah, just puff stuff to make him feel good. Mostly we're buying more energy from the US which, frankly, we need.
No one wants a trade war. It will just hurt us all.
- Adding to that, it's only laying the ground work for a deal. It will have to be approved by all member states (which I doubt will happen in its current state) and months and years will pass until the lawsuits and debates are over. Who even knows what the US government will look like at this point. Yes, it may be bad optics right now, but I feel like a lot of people assume this is a done deal and not just regular politics.
- Yeah - this move will only hurt the eu, so effectively halves the damage
  
  How so?

Yeah, we need explanations here. This looks really negative
- It looks fucking weak and pathetic and the UE should have stood its ground, but apparently it's the same as with the Japan deal. The investments are just smoke, no money allocated, no dates, etc. Just an empty gesture to appease MAGAts Still, pathetic and VdL should be sacked.