this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2025
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Europe

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[โ€“] django@discuss.tchncs.de 103 points 1 week ago (5 children)

But he also indicated that he wanted the EU to reduce its standards to allow more U.S. goods to enter its market, referring to safety measures as "non-monetary tariffs."

"It's tariffs where they put things on where they make it impossible for you to sell a car ... they make it so difficult, the standards and the tests," Trump said. "They come up with rules and regulations that are just designed for one reason: that you can't sell your product in those countries. And we're not gonna let that happen. Those are called non-monetary barriers."

Keep your pedestrian hazards like the cybertruck in your country. We already have enough people driving unnecessarily huge cars. We need less and smaller cars.

[โ€“] BigShammy80@feddit.org 55 points 1 week ago

This just shows that the tests and regulations work ๐Ÿ˜ We don't need shitty american cars...

[โ€“] unmagical@lemmy.ml 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

All those "standards and the tests" and "rules and regulations" designed so "you can't sell your product in those countries" don't seem to work very well given that you can still buy cars and chicken in Europe.

[โ€“] django@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 1 week ago

We call these "consumer protection and food safety acts" and I think that's beautiful.

[โ€“] DmMacniel@feddit.org 17 points 1 week ago

Lol He whines about our high standards as an entry barrier. If that's true, then why are there so many apple devices purchased here?

[โ€“] RejZoR@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That bowling ball comment from Trump is prime example of talking about shit without understanding said shit. The car is suppose to fucking dent from it! It's why Cyberdick car isn't allowed in Europe, it doesn't dent when you run over a person. I'd explain the physics behind it, but Trumps avocado brain is too fucking stupid to ever understand that.

[โ€“] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week ago

He exclusively talks about things he doesn't understand,

[โ€“] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Aren't you worried you might starve if your vehicle isn't tall enough to reach the drive-through window? Also, how are you going to transport landscaping supplies for your massive lawn? Furthermore, there's so many big vehicles on the road. I'd be concerned they would bully me if I were in a smaller car.

[โ€“] BigShammy80@feddit.org 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I mean, i specifically chose a small car for city traffic. You don't have parking lots as big as whole football fields here in germany ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜… I once saw a parking map for a sea world somewhere in USA... this shit is unreal!!

[โ€“] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Several football fields, I'm afraid:

[โ€“] BigShammy80@feddit.org 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah, this is exactly the picture i was talking about ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

What're we supposed to do? The busses only come on the hour if there's coverage for a region at all. It's really frustrating to see our taxes go to such poor service, so we very reasonably try to teach them a lesson by having our politicians reduce their funding, but they don't learn at all. The service just gets worse until a charitable, for-profit corporation steps in to fill the vacuum, usually with car-oriented services. What would we do without massive tarmacs stretching for miles?

[โ€“] slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 78 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sorry we don't negotiate with terrorists

[โ€“] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If it's not from the brown-people region, it's not really terrorism. It's just sparkling freedom fighting.

[โ€“] edwardbear@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

US are definitely fighting freedom, Iโ€™ll give you that

[โ€“] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 74 points 1 week ago (10 children)

The ridiculous thing is, digital earnings like the billions from Meta, Google etc. are not getting counted into the trade by Americans. Wonder how the trade deficit would look like if we did that. Apart from that, nobody wants to buy your ugly cars here, they wouldn't even fit to our streets. It's not like you couldn't produce something for the European market, if you wanted. Nobody is interested in something like the Ford F150

[โ€“] BigShammy80@feddit.org 27 points 1 week ago

Exactly... they earn billions with their tech stuff from us... It's time to reduce that a little too! Use European services where you can and boycott Meta, Google etc

[โ€“] Hayduke@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

I think they had a hard enough time explaining โ€œgoodsโ€ to him. They need that to sink in before introducing โ€œservices". He is still amused with the old-fashioned word โ€œgroceriesโ€œ

โ€ฆJFC we are doomed

There are a few of those pickup trucks around here. If they were easier to get in Germany I believe more fragile men would buy it. Even if it just sits in the driveway.

[โ€“] django@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 week ago

I have already seen too many of those things in my city. But it is fun to watch them looking for a space to park their emotional support vehicles.

I doubt that thing would even fit in my drive.

[โ€“] RejZoR@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Fareed Zakaria said well on CNN (I like to binge watch it, sue me) recently, Trump is stuck in the 1950 and he's obsessed with manufacturing, it's why he just ignores tech companies, because his avocado brain just can't compute that USA's biggest export is really software and software/online services.

[โ€“] steiner@nrw.social 5 points 1 week ago

@gigachad @CAVOK oh don't give the orange boy ideas, next headline will be "they ripp us off, EU must bring 90% of their citizens to truth network (or how ever his daily shitpost site is called) to get tariff relief!" ๐Ÿคฃ I hope EU does it like china, we can survive a view month longer with that than america.

[โ€“] jrs100000@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Doesnt Meta collect its money in Ireland?

[โ€“] Don_alForno@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago

If services are included, we're almost even.

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[โ€“] the_wiz@feddit.org 53 points 1 week ago

Well, I sincerely hope the EUs answer to it will be "get lost". We should not, we can not let us extort by a wannabe Mafia boss.

[โ€“] truthfultemporarily@feddit.org 52 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Best I can do is to boycott all US products.

[โ€“] the_swagmaster@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 week ago

I'm doing my part too ๐Ÿซก

[โ€“] banazir@lemmy.ml 35 points 1 week ago (2 children)

And what guarantees does Europe have he won't just flip the deal on a whim? This guy and these tactics deserve no quarter.

[โ€“] ryper@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 week ago

The trade agreement with Canada and Mexico that Trump signed in his first term will be up for review next year, but he decided to "negotiate" with tariffs this year instead. Any country can look at how Trump has handled the USMCA for a preview of how an agreement with Trump will go.

[โ€“] Quittenbrot@feddit.org 17 points 1 week ago (2 children)

And what guarantees does Europe have he wonโ€™t just flip the deal on a whim?

Nothing. Even worse: he actually wants to be able to flip the deal whenever he feels like it.

This guy is not a "partner" as in a contractual sense but a mobster who wants to use every measure to gain an advantage.

[โ€“] banazir@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I agree. From the article:

"If we can make a really fair deal and a good deal for the United States, not a good deal for others, this is America first. It's now America first."

This is such an insane thing to say and it reveals a lot. Why on earth would anyone enter in to a trade deal, or even negotiations, if the other party only accepts one sided benefits? Any sane actor not under duress will reject any such notions out of hand. A good trade deal benefits both sides. This should be elementary.

Now, I'm no professional, but it looks to me that none of this is about the best interests of the USA or it's citizens; this is all to serve one man's ego. Trump's thinking is so disordered he views any concessions as a narcissistic injury. Anything but complete domination is out of question, since it breaks his carefully cultivated sense of omnipotence, of being the biggest and strongest man in the room. His ego is so fragile it cannot sustain the slightest challenge to the false self. All of this, the trade wars, even becoming the POTUS, it's all about one thing: trying to silence that nagging voice that tells him he's worthless. Nothing will ever be enough to quell that inner critic, which is why he always escalates.

There is no room for any deals with this guy and his sycophants. They will just demand more.

[โ€“] Quittenbrot@feddit.org 8 points 1 week ago

There is no room for any deals with this guy and his sycophants. They will just demand more.

Exactly. That's why it is so important not to give in to him and instead answer in the only language that guy understands: relentless pressure.

[โ€“] pulsey@feddit.org 4 points 1 week ago

Even mobsters have longterm goals and know the value of a beneficial partnership. Trump and his chumps are just looking to grift as much as possible.

[โ€“] Etterra@discuss.online 30 points 1 week ago (2 children)

As an American my advise is for Europe to give Trump the middle finger and let it all fall apart. I don't want our country to die ugly, and I sure as hell never voted for it. But if our hardship leads to the downfall of the Orange Jackass and his whole damned cult, then so be it. With any luck that'll happen before I end up disappeared or thrown into one of Roadkill Kennedy's internment camps for people who take SSRIs.

[โ€“] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

I recognize that this comes from a place of extraordinary privilege, and I hope you do too...but I kinda agree. Let's just get the collapse of the US over with so we can rebuild. Quit dragging our feet on it, it's just gonna make things worse in the long term.

[โ€“] bitchkat@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Its a sacrifice we're willing to make.

[โ€“] mjhelto@lemm.ee 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Please, European countries, and even China for that fact, please don't give in. Make tRump eat shit for this stupid bully tactic. He's turned the US into the kiddie table all the parents ignore.

[โ€“] huppakee@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

I'm a visual thinker, trump eating shit might be my best visual thought of today.

[โ€“] aldfin@lemm.ee 19 points 1 week ago
[โ€“] aleq@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Surely there is zero political support for this in Europe. Of course we're hurting badly from the tariffs, but at least in my circle I don't see anyone supporting bending over to any demand he sends us.

Almost as soon as Trump was reelected, von der Leyen suggested opening negotiations to buy more American liquefied natural gas (LNG). But POLITICO reported that the U.S. had, in response, offered no clarity about how a deal would work.

Don't quite follow this though, does the EU need more fossil fuels? Aren't we moving away from it? Is this aimed at replacing russian natural gas?

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[โ€“] NotNow@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

Send in the clowns!

[โ€“] GenosseFlosse@feddit.org 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

How much is that in solar and wind power?

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[โ€“] Zedstrian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 week ago

The U.S. isn't committing to closing the trade deficit in services, showing that Trump's tariffs are just about American dominance, not 'fairness'.

[โ€“] zeezee@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

wtf - the EU imported 15-20b on LNG in 2024 - how does it make any sense to increase LNG imports by 15-20 times while claiming to decarbonize? Or is the plan to just weave the 350B debt and then be left holding the proverbial LNG bag?

And this comes after: "Trade Commissioner Maroลก ล efฤoviฤ is hoping his U.S. counterparts can settle on a โ€œterm sheetโ€ that sets out a framework for talks โ€” when the next round of tariffs takes effect."

These could entail lowering duties, investing in American defense firms, boosting purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas, or softening some regulations. ^1^

Soo the EU is going for the classic get fucked in the ass, suck the cum out while youโ€™re belching, burp, belch, and go back for a second helping...

[โ€“] Kissaki@feddit.org 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

how does it make any sense to increase LNG imports by 15-20 times while claiming to decarbonize?

You mean from EU side? I don't think Trump cares about decarbonization or EU efforts regarding it.

[โ€“] zeezee@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 week ago

yep, Europe really ought to not cave into the demand to buy up more LNG and instead focus on developing their own renewable energy base instead

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