Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on countries that have shown support for Greenland is pushing transatlantic relations to a breaking point as EU leaders contemplate ways of retaliating against Washington that until now have been unthinkable.

One option being floated by centrist and left-wing politicians is for Europe to wheel out its Anti-Coercion Instrument, the EU’s so-called trade “bazooka” — a powerful retaliation tool that was originally conceived to fend off bullying from China, which would allow Europe to impose tariffs and investment limits against offending nations.

French President Emmanuel Macron has joined those calling for the instrument to be deployed against the U.S.

  • Skiluros@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    They should start with banning US tech services, first insta/FB/Twitter/Reddit and then slowly kicking out MS/Amazon/Google and other enterprise providers.

    • plenipotentprotogod@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You don’t even need to ban it. You just need to open up the marketplace to alternatives. Cory Doctrow has been pushing the idea that the best retaliation is to simply repeal anti-circumvention laws and allow companies to begin chipping away at the walled gardens of the tech giants. For example, John Deere famously puts software locks on its tractors so that even simple repairs require the owner to pay for a technician to come out and “authorize” the newly installed part or else the machine will refuse to start. This system could almost certainly be bypassed, but right now the law not only allows manufacturers to lock their tractors, it also forbids anyone else from unlocking them. If the EU simply repealed the law that bans circumvention then some clever EU citizen could legally reverse engineer the software running on those tractors and start a business selling unlocking software. They could make it a one-time purchase at 10x the cost of an official tech visit and make money hand over fist while still saving their customers time and money in the long term.
      And of course it’s not just tractors. Make a third party app store for the iphone that charges half the commission of Apple. Make a tool that allows seamless account migration from Google to the independent cloud provider of your choice. A huge amount of corporate rent seeking is enabled by anti-circumvention laws.

    • Mihies@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      Slovene politicians: “Is there anything else out there besides MS, Amazon, X, Facebook and Instagram?”

    • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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      2 months ago

      I honestly think they believe banning US social media would create a far-right populist uprising. It’s the same “we have to treat the fascist problem with kid gloves” BS that hasn’t worked for decades now.

  • jojo@piefed.socialEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Why haven’t we done this already, that’s my question every single day for more than a year. Clearly Mr. Tramp isn’t trustworthy but somehow our EU leaders keep ending up with his tiny peepee in their mouths

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      0·
      2 months ago

      Why haven’t we done this already

      Becau$e.

      Clearly Mr. Tramp isn’t trustworthy

      Understatement of the millennium

      somehow our EU leaders keep ending up with his tiny peepee in their mouths

      Geopolitical bullying, blackmail, and everyone likely to achieve significant power being beholden to and thus in favor of preexisting power structures is a combination that impedes the progress of humanity as a whole IMMENSELY.

    • nocteb@feddit.org
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      2 months ago

      A few months ago people from German chancellor’s party CDU visited the US to get advice from Republicans.

      • Mihies@programming.dev
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        2 months ago

        Slovene biggest (currently opposition) very right wing party SDS is being taught by American right wingers.

  • d00phy@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Coming from ‘Merca, I wholeheartedly support this measure. If one lesson was learned from WWII, it’s that as soon as you’ve identified a bully, you have to accept that diplomacy is no longer an option. Bullies don’t understand diplomacy, and don’t respect it. All they know, or respond to, is what they perceive as strength and/or power. At a more basic level, friendship means nothing to them because it’s a foreign concept.

  • optissima@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 months ago

    Stupid that stuff like this isn’t setup to automatically trigger when you’re threatened by invasion.

  • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    https://ticdata.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/slt_table5.html

    Japan and China hold a boatload of US Treasuries, but European countries hold a bunch, too. If they dump them all at once, the market implodes, US interest rates spike, and we’re in a world of hurt.

    Yes, those countries suffer a financial hit, too, but in the long run it might be cheaper than fighting a conventional war with the US over Greenland.