45th President of the United States, Donald Trump. (Vol 4)

[Yipper]

Good to see Trump sticking it to the protectionist EU.

EU always says one thing and does another.

EU says it loves free trade... and then slaps unfree trade taxes wherever it can.

First, Brexit struck a blow to the EU political maniacs.

Now, second, Trump is striking a blow to the EU economic protectionists.

Step by step, the tide is turning against the EU empire.

[Seventy]

Countdown said:

The Dangerous Elk said:

Eu economics is based on protectionist dogma

Really? How come so many of the EU have trade deficits then...?

Don4l was always anti EU.

[Seventy]

Yipper said:

Good to see Trump sticking it to the protectionist EU.

EU always says one thing and does another.

EU says it loves free trade... and then slaps unfree trade taxes wherever it can.

First, Brexit struck a blow to the EU political maniacs.

Now, second, Trump is striking a blow to the EU economic protectionists.

Step by step, the tide is turning against the EU empire.

And guess who’ll be hung out to dry........

[Funkycoldribena]

paulguitar said:

Funkycoldribena said:

As long as Trumps in, I'm happy.
Happy times.

There is a part of me, I will not deny it, that would rather like to live in a world like yours.

I have an uncle who is a Jehovah's Witness. I can see that vacuous, dead, vacant look in his eyes.

Tell me one thing apart from blind hatred that has changed in the last 14 months for you because of Trump.

[B'stard Child]

Funkycoldribena said:

paulguitar said:

Funkycoldribena said:

As long as Trumps in, I'm happy.
Happy times.

There is a part of me, I will not deny it, that would rather like to live in a world like yours.

I have an uncle who is a Jehovah's Witness. I can see that vacuous, dead, vacant look in his eyes.

Tell me one thing apart from blind hatred that has changed in the last 14 months for you because of Trump.

ooh ooh can I play please

Nothing - absolutely nothing

But it's been propper entertaining

[The Dangerous Elk]

Funkycoldribena said:

Tell me one thing apart from blind hatred that has changed in the last 14 months for you because of Trump.

Lots more froth and tears ?

[Seventy]

Funkycoldribena said:

Tell me one thing apart from blind hatred that has changed in the last 14 months for you because of Trump.

That’s the problem with people like you. You never see further than the end of your drive.

[Funkycoldribena]

B'stard Child said:

ooh ooh can I play please

Nothing - absolutely nothing

But it's been propper entertaining

When you spell proper proper,you can join in.

[Funkycoldribena]

Seventy said:

That’s the problem with people like you. You never see further than the end of your drive.

Its a real problem on the 23rd floor.

[The Dangerous Elk]

Seventy said:

That’s the problem with people like you. You never see further than the end of your drive.

Whereas you see monsters at the end of yours. They are under your bed as well, sleep tight.

[Seventy]

Goodnight, don4l.

[The Dangerous Elk]

What ?

[Murph7355]

RobDickinson said:

The Dangerous Elk said:

Eu economics is based on protectionist dogma

Yes so? That's the whole point of a trading block.

One might suggest it's therefore little surprise that other large trading entities might take exception to it.

It's probably more surprising that something similar hasn't happened before.

I would guess that the "obvious" thing Trump is wanting as an outcome is for the EU to adjust its tariffs. Question is, how much weight does the EU think it has.

The world is a very interesting place at the moment. And I suspect it's only just getting started . Trump is one manifestation, but if the EU thought it could just do what it wanted on these things, we're all going to suffer the consequences. It's not hard to envisage all sorts of trading nations and blocs jumping on the bandwagon...

[paulguitar]

Funkycoldribena said:

Tell me one thing apart from blind hatred that has changed in the last 14 months for you because of Trump.

I don't have any 'blind hatred' whatsoever. I would love for the USA to have the kind of a president who one can look up to and respect. The cartoon clown currently in the role sadly has earned contempt rather than respect.


As to your question, it is not really about what has changed for me personally. I would rather be a bit less insular and short-sighted than that. I do spend the majority of my life in the States, and what I can say is that it seems to me to be more negative, polarised and angry there than I have ever seen it before. I believe that Trump brings out the very worst in people.

[RobDickinson]

It hasn't happened before because these things are incredibly complicated and slapping random tarrifs on raw material causes more problems than it solves.

[B'stard Child]

Funkycoldribena said:

B'stard Child said:

ooh ooh can I play please

Nothing - absolutely nothing

But it's been propper entertaining

When you spell proper proper,you can join in.

fat fingers - soz

[Funkycoldribena]

B'stard Child said:

fat fingers - soz

I'm only pulling your wing.

[glazbagun]

Murph7355 said:

RobDickinson said:

The Dangerous Elk said:

Eu economics is based on protectionist dogma

Yes so? That's the whole point of a trading block.

One might suggest it's therefore little surprise that other large trading entities might take exception to it.

It's probably more surprising that something similar hasn't happened before.

I would guess that the "obvious" thing Trump is wanting as an outcome is for the EU to adjust its tariffs. Question is, how much weight does the EU think it has.

The world is a very interesting place at the moment. And I suspect it's only just getting started . Trump is one manifestation, but if the EU thought it could just do what it wanted on these things, we're all going to suffer the consequences. It's not hard to envisage all sorts of trading nations and blocs jumping on the bandwagon...

We're talking about the EU because it's the PH bogeyman, but in the real world the US only imports 3% of it's steel from Germany which is 5% of Germany's output. The imports this will most affect are from Canada, Brazil, South Korea and Russia. China is number 11 on the list, but China won't give a st- they export most of their steel to the east and the states make up less than 1% of their output.

So really (as with everything from trump) this is more about pissing off your trading partners for a while so your supporters think you're doing something for them, then actually fixing any problem.

[ferrisbueller]

Yipper said:

Good to see Trump sticking it to the protectionist EU.

EU always says one thing and does another.

EU says it loves free trade... and then slaps unfree trade taxes wherever it can.

First, Brexit struck a blow to the EU political maniacs.

Now, second, Trump is striking a blow to the EU economic protectionists.

Step by step, the tide is turning against the EU empire.

Perhaps you can clear this up then?

Is this "expert" on R4 talking st? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09smhd9 Start around the 12th minute.

Including snippets such as:

BBC Guest Expert said:

The World Bank and OECD say that US Tariffs are the same as the European Union

BBC Guest Expert said:

The OECD concludes the US is more restrictive than the EU in terms of regulations around selling into their market

BBC Guest Expert said:

Deficit due to structure and regulation, not tariffs

Trump doesn't even buy American products. I wonder how long the average American will tolerate reduced choice and increased prices i.e. a demonstrable hit to their quality of life.

[Byker28i]

trump also legally cannot introduce retaliatory tarrifs as he suggests if other countries raise tarrifs. He has to get a mandate from congress and it's taken a year to get one for steel and aluminum.