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As Stocks (and Cryptocurrencies) Drop After Tariffs, France Considers Retaliating Against US Big Tech (politico.eu) 170

Posted by EditorDavid from the exporting-variables dept.
"U.S. stock market futures plunged on Sunday evening," reports Yahoo Finance, "after the new U.S. tariff policy began collecting duties over the weekend..."

The EU will vote on $28 billion in retaliatory tariffs Wednesday, Reuters reports. (And those tariffs will be approved unless "a qualified majority of 15 EU members representing 65% of the EU's population oppose it. They would enter force in two stages, a smaller part on April 15 and the rest a month later.")

But France's Economy and Finance Minister has an idea: more strictly regulating how data is used by America's Big Tech companies. Politico EU reports/A>: "We may strengthen certain administrative requirements or regulate the use of data," Lombard said in an interview with Le Journal Du Dimanche. He added that another option could be to "tax certain activities," without being more specific.

A French government spokesperson already said last week that the EU's retaliation against U.S. tariffs could include "digital services that are currently not taxed." That suggestion was fiercely rejected by Ireland, which hosts the European headquarters of several U.S. Big Tech firms...

Technology is seen as a possible area for Europe to retaliate. The European Union has a €157 billion trade surplus in goods, which means it exports more than it imports, but it runs a deficit of €109 billion in services, including digital services. Big Tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta dominate many parts of the market in Europe.
Amid the market turmoil, what about cryptocurrencies, often seen as a "proxy" for the level of risk felt by investors? In the 10 weeks after October 6, the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed 67% to $106,490 by December 10th. But by January 30th it had started dropping again, and now sits at $77,831 — still up 22% for the last six months, but down nearly 27% over the last 10 weeks. Yet even after all that volatility, Bitcoin suddenly fell again more than 6% on Sunday, reports Reuters, "as markets plunged amid tariff tensions. Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency, fell more than 10% on Sunday."

As Stocks (and Cryptocurrencies) Drop After Tariffs, France Considers Retaliating Against US Big Tech More | Reply

As Stocks (and Cryptocurrencies) Drop After Tariffs, France Considers Retaliating Against US Big Tech

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  • The entire world is gearing up (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @09:22PM (#65285691)
    For a world where America no longer leads.

    Is really frustrating how little people understand how the American empire functions. Simply put we leverage our national debt in order to keep the US dollar overly strong allowing us to bring in huge amounts of cheap imports worth much much much more than the interest on the debt.

    That system is the only thing that's let you keep ahead of the rapacious oligarchs who have been using productivity gains in automation to devour your wages and your quality of life.

    And now we've completely broken that system. The entire world is basically united against us in a pointless trade war that exists only to implement a national sales tax so that the tax burden of the richest assholes in the country can be shifted to you personally. Basically doubling what you pay in taxes every year.

    It's so stupid I don't even know what to think or say anymore. It's not like the information wasn't out there. It's not like people shouldn't have known that this would be the outcome. At the very least people should have understood that a Trump presidency means higher prices for everything, especially eggs.

    When I was a kid we called it the boob tube. TV that is. But even today people just do what TV tells them to do. All the while going on and on about anyone who well, does with TV says to do. And the other side controls TV so that's what we did. mix in a little voter suppression and here you go.

    And thanks to that voter suppression I don't think we're going to get a chance to fix this. As it stands the United States of America is on a permanent trajectory for decline. And it's going to be so rapid that the old farts that hang around this forum aren't going to die before it hits them

    • Re:The entire world is gearing up (Score:5, Insightful)

      by battingly ( 5065477 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @09:36PM (#65285709)

      Ok, but Trump will exact retribution for every slight he's ever perceived. That's far more important than maintaining the nation's prosperity.

      • Unfortunately, Trump has an endless supply of crazy grade 12 educated uncles supporting him... When Trump fails, they are so brainwashed they're already planning on blaming the "globalists" and the "left" for all the fallout.

      • Ok, but Trump will exact retribution for every slight he's ever perceived. That's far more important than maintaining the nation's prosperity.

        Sure. But at some point it breaks down, literally. Trump can say "I'll keep raising my tariffs to match your retaliation" but it can't really happen. At some point everyone will be assessing a hundred-trillion-percent tariff on everything, and a thousand-dollar car part will cross a border and the combined wealth of the planet will be owed.

        The only way this works is if everyone caves in and just lets America - which has way, way more than its fair share of global wealth - take more of the overall pot.

        • Re:The entire world is gearing up (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Maxo-Texas ( 864189 ) on Monday April 07, 2025 @12:24AM (#65285911)

          The thing is... they don't need to cave. They can literally route around the U.S. economy just as they did around Russia which was about the 11th or 12th largest economy.

          Just cut the U.S. economy out of the picture. Most of the desirable U.S. products are services anyway. So they do without Google, and Microsoft, and Facebook, and Deloitte (sp) ... and use alternative solutions and develop their own solutions.

          And with the ICE treatment of foreign nationals, the U.S. is going to lose the Brain edge that it has had as smart people who don't want to spend 4 weeks in prison without access to a lawyer cut the chase and leave.

          • The thing is... they don't need to cave.

            You'll find that's not the case. I mean- not that they should cave, but we're all going down together. They cannot insulate themselves from us.
            The US imports (imported?) ~600B USD a year from the EU.
            That is lost revenue for the businesses there that they can't just pick up somewhere else.
            Frankly, because nobody else can afford it. We're the largest consumer on the planet.

            You can cut the US out of the picture, but not without crippling yourself as well, because the funnel of money was always pointing ou

            • Re:The entire world is gearing up (Score:5, Insightful)

              by locofungus ( 179280 ) on Monday April 07, 2025 @03:32AM (#65286035)

              You'll find that's not the case. I mean- not that they should cave, but we're all going down together. They cannot insulate themselves from us.
              The US imports (imported?) ~600B USD a year from the EU.
              That is lost revenue for the businesses there that they can't just pick up somewhere else.
              Frankly, because nobody else can afford it. We're the largest consumer on the planet.

              Except that that's forgetting three quarters of the picture.

              In 2023 the US did import just over 500B in goods from the EU, but it exported around 350B, net imports 150B.

              So that's reduced your figure by a factor of over 3 in one go.

              The EU imported 430B in services from the US in 2023 and exported 310B, so that was a net flow of just over 100B towards the US.

              So overall, the hit to the EU of stopping all trade with the US would be 50B all else being equal.

              Of course, there are exports from the US that the EU doesn't want to lose, the costs of replicating them locally would dwarf that 50B and would take years to do, but the EU is big enough to take that task on if it has to.

              The EU is keen to deescalate these trade wars and so is treading quite cautiously currently. France is one of the more belligerent voices that definitely want to take aim at that services deficit (combination of taxes and restrictions on how data can be used applied to US companies has already been mooted).

              • Except that that's forgetting three quarters of the picture.

                No, it's not. You're trying to even out the picture.

                We're discussing the impact of those who are targeted by this.
                The net does not matter.

                What matters is the lost revenue for the businesses on the other side.

                So that's reduced your figure by a factor of over 3 in one go.

                As long as you don't understand basic economics- you're correct.

                The EU imported 430B in services from the US in 2023 and exported 310B, so that was a net flow of just over 100B towards the US.

                You're really gonna harp this thing, as if those who lost the $600B in revenue are made whole by the fact that other people in their country bought shit from us?

                The EU is keen to deescalate these trade wars and so is treading quite cautiously currently. France is one of the more belligerent voices that definitely want to take aim at that services deficit (combination of taxes and restrictions on how data can be used applied to US companies has already been mooted).

                With a grip on economics as dismal as yours, I'm not sure I'd be trying t

            • Re: (Score:3)

              by gtall ( 79522 )

              They cannot remove themselves immediately. Right now, they are only looking to kick the can down the road before they starting kicking the U.S. down the road. Time matters.

              And there will be no turning back. Now the rest of the world understands just how stupid Americans really are to elect such a moron. They won't assume in the future that Americans will wise up. They will never trust the American people again not to be just as stupid for the next charlatan who comes along promoting the idea Americans are v

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by mjwx ( 966435 )

            The thing is... they don't need to cave. They can literally route around the U.S. economy just as they did around Russia which was about the 11th or 12th largest economy.

            Pretty much this. The US is trying to wage a trade war with the entire world... so other countries, UK, EU, et al. have the entire rest of the world to trade with over the US.

            So what other countries should be doing is determining the things they buy from the US, of those things what can be reliably sourced from allies or at least friendly nations and then putting tariffs on those goods and services from the US.

            Blanket or revenge tariffs will just harm your own population, as we'll see in the US.

            Just cut the U.S. economy out of the picture. Most of the desirable U.S. products are services anyway. So they do without Google, and Microsoft, and Facebook, and Deloitte (sp) ... and use alternative solutions and develop their own solutions.

            And with the ICE treatment of foreign nationals, the U.S. is going to lose the Brain edge that it has had as smart people who don't want to spend 4 weeks in prison without access to a lawyer cut the chase and leave.

            The th

          • > So they do without Google, and Microsoft, and Facebook

            Oh no, we'll continue to use them. We just won't be buying (much) advertising space there because it'll be too expensive. We'll probably have to put up with looking at public service ads, or maybe just American ads - neither of which will make US companies much money.

            If it really goes T.U., then the services we currently use will become so much of a loss maker that they turn subscription only. That would be a massive change, which would open the do

      • interestingly he is severely hurting his ability to exact that retribution in the future as this is forcing companies and countries to look at how they can move away from trade with the US.

      • > Trump will exact retribution for every slight he's ever perceived

        If I may, the French are, it seems to me, to be quite happy to piss people off to get what they want. If they see something as "wrong", they'll make an absolute nuisance of themselves until someone does something about it. Put that together with Trump and you end up with a lot of "retribution" going on.

        I'd also go as far as to say that the French, as a group, don't really understand (or perhaps just don't care) how intertwined their econo

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by h33t l4x0r ( 4107715 )
      Trump won that election very comfortably, complaining about voter suppression just undermines anything else you have to say.

      • Re:The entire world is gearing up (Score:5, Insightful)

        by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @10:03PM (#65285739)

        Trump won that election very comfortably, complaining about voter suppression just undermines anything else you have to say.

        Is that like when Biden won the election comfortably and all we heard for 4 years was Trump complaining about a "rigged" election, meaning it undermines anything else he had to say?

        • Yes it's exactly like that. I'm guessing OP doesn't want to be exactly like Trump by the way he's complaining about him.
        • That's one of the core principles of the Republican party. Just like how they won't shut up about drag queens grooming children and then every other week a top Republican operative gets caught-diddling kids They claim election interference while openly interfering with elections themselves.

          I mean for fuck sakes Missouri has 40% black population. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself how in the name of hell it can manage to be a red state? Now just take those same tactics and use them nationally thanks t
        • I've always assumed you were more intelligent than Trump.

      • Re:The entire world is gearing up (Score:4, Insightful)

        by karmawarrior ( 311177 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @10:16PM (#65285763) Journal

        Trump got a plurality of votes, the last time we had that instead of a majority was when Ross Perot split the vote. There was no big national third party this time though to split the vote like that.

        I don't think any rational person would say he won "comfortably".

        I'm reluctant to believe voter suppression because of the lack of evidence, but if such evidence was found, I'd hardly be surprised, especially given the the difference in candidates, with Trump barely campaigning and apparently mentally breaking down on stage frequently.

        • What do you mean, evidence? The Republican Party doesn't try to hide its voter suppression efforts; they just don't call them that. Instead, they use terms like "voter ID" and "closing low-traffic precincts" and "no voting after 8pm," etc. But it's all intended to make a small percentage of leaning-Democrat votes not happen.

        • Re:The entire world is gearing up (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Maxo-Texas ( 864189 ) on Monday April 07, 2025 @12:29AM (#65285919)

          Requiring a voter id card and then closing the voter id card office all but 4 days a year between the hours of 9am and 4pm (during working hours) and that's 40 miles away (requiring a car) is voter disenfranchisement.

          Closing voter id card offices in democratic areas but leaving them open in rich white areas is also voter disenfranchisement.

          Making it illegal to provide water to people waiting in line at voting precincts that have been short staffed and given insufficient machines *is* voter disenfranchisement.

          Letting people in big trucks with racists flags park across the street and "observe" the election *is voter disenfranchisement* .

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by bn-7bc ( 909819 )
            Sorry as a Norwagian, I don't get this, here almost everyone above the voing age has a valid id(drivers license /national id card/Passport, why do so many people in the us not have a valid id? Is it the fact that people in the US don't go abroad that much an so do not need a passport for travel, don't you have a national id card?
            • I know someone else who grew up in Europe who had a similar view. The difference is that because pretty much everyone needs an ID, European countries normally make it very easy and inexpensive to get one. In the US, it tends to be more difficult and expensive - in some areas, you may need to drive a couple hours each way, wait at the location for a couple hours more, and hope that you didn't forget some obscure piece of paper.

        • Lack of evidence? It's all very well known. To give just one example [tampabay.com]:

          In all, more than 1.1 million Floridians are unable to vote because they have felony convictions or owe court debts, making Florida the "nation's disenfranchisement leader," the report states. About 15 percent of the state's Black voting-age population is disenfranchised because of a felony, the report estimates, compared to about 6 percent for the state's non-Black population.

        • I'm a rational person, and I'll say it. He won comfortably.
          The idea that there needs to be a majority is absurd.
          He won by 2.3 million votes, or ~1.5% of the turnout.
          Bush and Gore were only 0.5% apart. Now that was a close one.
          Also, if Gore had won, it would have been a plurality.

          Whether or not the winner has a plurality or a majority is a matter of how many people voted for third parties, not how close the election was between the two people who had any chance of winning.

          The best I'll grant you, is
      • Not when we have credible evidence that 3.5 million Americans were denied the right to vote by illegal challenges to signatures and voter registrations alone. And that's before we talk about the 7-hour wait times to vote in Democrat leading districts in Pennsylvania and other swing states.

        The only part that confuses me is that the journal is too broke all this had sat down with Kamala Harris years ago and told her this was going to happen and she just did nothing.

        It speaks to a profound incompetence

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by h33t l4x0r ( 4107715 )
          Citation needed on that 1.7% number, I think you're talking about convicted felons. As for 7 hour wait in PA, it was one county, it wouldn't have come close to swinging PA and you know it. Voter suppression is not your problem, your problem is Democracy.

      • Not quite. Regardless of who wins or loses it is well known that the system is skewed heavily in favour of republicans in all legal means possible (legal being imposing arbitrary rules and limits, gerrymandering of districts, and even something as simple as the day of the week chosen for an election favours voters which historically skew in one direction.

        In most of the recent narrow elections it's widely accepted (by external people with no skin in the game, no by partisan Americans) that democrats win desp

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by znrt ( 2424692 )

      For a world where America no longer leads.

      america has brought some great stuff to the world but tbh in general has been more of a bully than a leader.

      with that out of the way, america's decline is not very different from that of most empires: overextension, greed and self indulgence. corporations moving abroad for greater profits, forgoing quality for profits, unchecked elites steadily rising inequality, making a banal talk show of political discussion, feeding on forever wars and political and monetary manipulation and coercion ... the best way to

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Revek ( 133289 )
      Trump will back peddle as soon as all The 1% buy up all those stocks at firesale prices. This whole thing is a money grab by the those who have money to buy up those stocks. They will rebound a bit as soon as trump stops the tariffs and then slowly creep back up to the pas highs. Only the majority will lose and that is fair as far as trump is concerned.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jvkjvk ( 102057 )

        Stock prices have only given up a year of gains.

        Don't expect the market to bottom anytime soon, as we get into a recession.

    • Simply put we leverage our national debt in order to keep the US dollar overly strong allowing us to bring in huge amounts of cheap imports worth much much much more than the interest on the debt.

      How was that ever going to last?

    • Is really frustrating how little people understand how the American empire functions.

      Very few voters want America to be an empire.

      We're ok not being the leader, but we don't want them to start another world war and drag us into it.

    • And the other side controls TV so that's what we did

      Um ... what? You mean because there is perhaps one network that isn't 100% leftist, lol?

  • For those who are confused (Score:5, Interesting)

    by AlanObject ( 3603453 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @10:27PM (#65285769)

    Trump is not that hard to understand.

    There are only a few things he really cares about, but most prominent among those when he "decides" what action to take is how it will play out in the media for the next news cycle. That's the way it has been with him for over 8 years now but if you accept that you understand the mechanism by which he takes action.

    Right now, he thinks slamming down tariffs left and right makes him look "strong" and "decisive." Not like those wimpy ass liberals who try to use diplomacy for things. His PR organ Fox News is crowing about all the nations obsequiously lining up to negotiate (i.e. sue for terms of surrender). The rubes are buying it so he will keep doing it. Economic expertise, much less sound policy, has nothing to do with it and never has.

    Just a short while ago the Trump team was confidently forcing a plan for SSA office closures. They had a list and they published it. Guess what it did NOT play well in the media. Trump was getting trashed and he couldn't blame it all on Musk. None of them have enough education to know what the "third rail of American politics is." Then guess what. They are now pretending they never said they were going to close offices. That was just a figment of your imagination and you do not question the Ministry of Truth.

    So it will be the same with the tariff project. It will play out that way. Right now they are trying to spin the chaos in the equities markets as just a necessary but temporary thing, then we will all get rich. The rubes are buying it for now, but when the news cycle sours on them and they lose control of the media narrative the tariffs will melt away like the spring snow. They will claim the outcome was always what they intended -- to show the world who is boss. They will pretend they will got what we wanted. The idiots in red hats will buy it.

    It will be completely lost on them what the real consequences are. They will just blame it on Biden if they are forced to notice.

    • Re:For those who are confused (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Mr. Dollar Ton ( 5495648 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @10:44PM (#65285795)

      Yes, trump is very easy to understand.

      He's an ignorant idiot, who has been shielded from responsibility from the wealth that his father left him.

      He doesn't "decide", he grifts.

      Because he's stupid, he hires made-up "experts", who are just as dumb and fake as he is, to tell him how to grift better.

      "Experts" like the Ron Vara guy. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/1... [nytimes.com]

      Because he is really stupid, he destroys a billion of value for every dollar that he actually gets, .

      70+ million US citizens are as dumb as him and his "experts", but poorer. Since in trumpland money equals smart, these consider trump to be one of them, but only a lot smarter. So they chose him despite the overwhelming evidence from four years ago that he's a dumb grifting SOB.

      Now the reality is catching up with them slowly, in the way it caught up with them a century ago. Their pockets being hit hard, they suddenly develop critical thinking skills.

      The grapes of wrath vintage is in the making.

      Except there's no California to run to anymore.

      • The grapes of wrath vintage is in the making.

        Except there's no California to run to anymore.

        I thought that when nearly the entirety of Oklahoma was covered in a dust storm going from Texas to Tennessee.
        "I don't think California's gonna let you guys in, this time."

        The sad part is that my sisters live there, and moving west isn't exactly easy with our cost of living.

        • What can I say? I'm really sorry for those who got him as president in spite of their vote.

          Hope you come out of it with the least possible damage, which ain't saying much.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by znrt ( 2424692 )

      Trump is not that hard to understand.

      i've been reading/watching a lot of political/economic discussion lately from academics, researchers, brilliant and experienced offcials, diplomats from very different origins and extractions, from the us and abroad. a few of them have said that trump is not hard to understand at some point. all who did have had to eat their own words at some later point.

      • I don't know what you mean by "eat their words." He's a simple man, but that doesn't mean that he's always easy to predict.

        There's a saying: The greatest swordsman in the world doesn't fear the second greatest swordsman. He fears the fool, who can't be predicted.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jvkjvk ( 102057 )

          >There's a saying: The greatest swordsman in the world doesn't fear the second greatest swordsman. He fears the fool, who can't be predicted.

          It actually is pretty hard to fence against someone who doesn't know how to. You have to slow down soooo much and exaggerate things immensely.

          The greatest swordsman in the world better fear the second greatest, lest he become the *former* greatest swordsman in the world.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jvkjvk ( 102057 )

          I like this Cowboy themed interpretation of this swordsman:

          The Ballad of Buster Scruggs:
          https://youtu.be/_2PyxzSH1HM [youtu.be]

    • You're going to have to provide a citation for the SSA office closures. No hand-waving, just a solid original source that contradicts the Social Security Administration's total rejection of the story you're presenting.

      I'm a Green voter who happens to think getting the facts right matters. Weird, I know.

      • Nice little pose there. Implying that it is all fake news and stuff. It isn't as if this is hard.

        List of dozens of offices to close. [apnews.com]

        If you are inclined to disbelieve an article from the "liberal" media, it links to DOGEs [doge.gov] OWN LIST of all government offices it is aiming to close. I haven't read through it all to see if SSA is still on it, but I'm sure you can do that for yourself since you are so concerned about accuracy of reporting. And if SSA isn't there now you will be no doubt delighted to pre

  • This is a highly fascinating (Score:3)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @10:41PM (#65285787) Journal

    ...economic experiment unfolding. Too bad I have to be part of it.

    Does Proxima Centauri-b take illegal aliens?

    • Being it orbits a red dwarf that completely irradiates the poor rock with constant flares greater than our sun has ever emitted.... sure. I suspect the population of radiation blasted rocks would love some company.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Sique ( 173459 )
        Let's put it like this: A Red Dwarf is so cold that planets have to move so close to its surface to be in the habitable zone, that whatever small of flares it produces, it will scorch the planets.

  • As a non-American... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @10:51PM (#65285801) Homepage

    As a non-American, I hope every country in the world sticks it to US companies and inflicts maximum economic pain on the United States.

    For a bunch of redneck hicks in seven "battleground" states to have the power to wreck the global economy and the world order is simply insane, and the USA deserves every bit of economic pain, loss of prestige, and diplomatic shunning that is going to come its way.

  • The US is reliably anti-consumer and guaranteed to remain so.

    The EU are free to act and shoul seek to move data far away from US companies now the US is a de-facto enemy.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sique ( 173459 )
      It would really be funny if the E.U. would give tariff rebates to companies having DEI policies in place. Then the economic war would morph into an economic civil war within the U.S..

  • Get ready for the new copium (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @11:02PM (#65285813)

    Conservatives who bitched non stop about Biden's economy now suddenly say it's a market correction and losing money is a good thing.

    • This is what Trump and Musk promised: it's going to hurt worse before it gets better; most just weren't listening.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Shaitan ( 22585 )

      Who lost money? You'd have to be deaf blind and stupid to not know this was happening. And notice that he isn't charging the EU anywhere near the level of tariffs they ALREADY charge the US and they aren't even so much as considering applying lube instead of upgrading from eggplant to champaign bottle reaming.

  • It's a security threat (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @11:14PM (#65285825)

    Don't just tariff US tech... replace it and ban the original.

    If your businesses run on Windows, you're one Trump emergency order away from having your systems compromised for industrial espionage or an economic attack. If your consumer economy is depending on Amazon delivery networks, you can have sand thrown in it at any time. If you allow Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X freely within your borders, you are already under American and Russian agitprop assaults.

  • Everyone needs to cut the US loose (Score:5, Interesting)

    by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Sunday April 06, 2025 @11:22PM (#65285837) Homepage Journal

    Honestly, you can't trust US tech. All the major tech CEOs famously met with Trump in private to discuss God's knows what.

    We believe we have seen the establishment of an oligarchy that commits war-like acts against its closest allies. That means that none of your data is safe in the cloud if it lands in an American jurisdiction. Because clearly Trump can call any of these CEOs for a favor now. US tech companies can and will let government spooks into data centers and gain physical access to equipment. Or simply turn off key Internet services for countries that he wants to pressure into "negotiation".

    I'll survive here in the US. But my fellow countrymen have long ways to fall before they realize what has happened. When they're ready, we'll rebuild and hopefully reconnect with the rest of the world.

  • Instead of retaliating against the US for retaliating against your tariffs... you could retaliate by dropping your tariffs.

    • Many of the countries, like Australia, have no tariffs against the US or tiny Tariffs. Trump isn't basing tariffs on what other countries are charging, he is basing it off deficit. e.g. look at Vietnam, they have about a 5% tariff, but Trump put on 46% because the deficit of trade is so large. The moron thinks that because you buy something from someone they have a mutual obligation to buy at least as much from you in return.

      • Free trade is literally a win-win scenario, everybody get's something they want, Republicans used to know this, deep down they still do.

        “The best thing is for other countries to engage in is free trade, but even if they don't the most sensible, ration thing to do, all by ourselves, is to follow free trade" -Famous hippie Milton Friedman

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Shaitan ( 22585 )

          "Free trade is literally a win-win scenario, everybody get's something they want, Republicans used to know this, deep down they still do."

          That doesn't mean Americans always break even or win on the deal. And we absolutely should.

          All too often the people who get they want, are people who want to exploit child labor, a lower value for human life, or in some cases literal slavery pending genocide.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Shaitan ( 22585 )

        No but they have an exploitative relationship which benefits Australia disproportionately relative to the US. We've even been funding the Australian universities and press FFS. I certainly don't blame the average bloke in Australia for that but then I've heard more than a few Australians point out that they don't blame the US for not wanting to pay so much its supposed to be a national crisis if our taxpayers stop paying for their public services.

        "The moron thinks that because you buy something from someone

    • Oh would you look at that! A Trump supporter who has no idea what actions Trump had actually takes, but supports them really hard anyway.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Shaitan ( 22585 )

        "A Trump supporter who has no idea what actions Trump had actually takes"

        I assume that made some sort of sense in your head, unfortunately no signs of sense are coming out.

        • Yet you are the one who appears to have absolutely no idea what you are supporting.

          That's the thing about Trump supporters. You support the messiah whatever he does because he's the Messiah.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Shaitan ( 22585 )

            "Yet you are the one who appears to have absolutely no idea what you are supporting.

            That's the thing about Trump supporters. You support the messiah whatever he does because he's the Messiah."

            Right and you are the middling IQ enlightened one who is going to come along and tell us the completely unsubstantiated truth of it all or rather you WOULD if the elders of your cult hadn't told you to shun non-believers on your daily USAID funded propaganda.

  • This is a fantastic, scary thriller (Score:3)

    by greytree ( 7124971 ) on Monday April 07, 2025 @02:39AM (#65286011)
    Plot twist: The President is an enemy agent.

  • The EU will vote on $28 billion in retaliatory tariffs

    Look, Trump is chaos incarnate. That said, it is obvious what he is after. Musk even dropped a fat, juicy hint, when he talked about free trade zones. Trump wants the EU to drop its tariffs against US products. His way of forcing this issue is by imposing his own tariffs.

    Is the EU (or, in this case France) being deliberately stupid? Why?

  • ... a tax the Left doesn't like, lol!

  • We never had free trade, it was rigged trade Underwriting and supporting others economies on our dime while building Trillion $$$ debt is not sustainable for us or our kids.

    This effort is about normalizing and equalizing business trade, it’s a business decision, not a question of ally or foes.

    Taiwan is now offering zero tariffs to the United States in response. Other countries will do the same.

    Trump's goal is zero tariffs everywhere.

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