Latest news with #Trump-sceptics
Forbes
28-03-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Trump's Trade Aim May Delay U.S./European Auto Tariff Pact
Trade war between EU and USA,concept photo European governments and industry leaders reacted with varying degrees of horror to President Trump's threat to erect 25% auto tariff barriers. But it's not just tariffs which Trump wants to reform. He seeks to overturn what he considers to be a long-term conspiracy to block overall American exports by unfair and hidden means too. One London commentator says Trump's basic aim is to force Europeans to clear the decks for free trade. European leaders have plenty of reasons to worry about the outcome of negotiations with the U.S., but it's not the 25% tariff, starting April 3, they should be most worried about. After all the unfair current regime, where Europe charges American a 10% tariff on its sedan and SUV imports while the U.S. only insists on 2.5%, would be easy to equalize. It's Trump's overall policy to fix, once and for all, what he considers to be a long-term trade rip-off by Europe of the U.S. that should cause them sleepless nights. That might well drag on and become a serious barrier to trade for months. Meanwhile European automakers like BMW and its Rolls Royce and Mini subsidiaries, Mercedes, and Volkswagen with its Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini brands could bleeding serious money from the bottom line as U.S. sales stall. Among the cries of outrage from Europeans were these, according to Reuters. USA and European Union trade war concept, port crane lift two cargo containers. These reactions seem to misunderstand Trump's basic position. Former U.S. ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland expects the Trump Administration to seek huge overall changes to long-term unfair trading including non-tariff barriers. Trump has described the EU's trade policy as "an atrocity.' Trump also claimed the annual U.S. trade deficit with the EU was more than $300 billion. Sondland said in a recent interview with the BBC's NewsNight program the EU imposes hidden barriers on American products. For cars, that can mean different safety standards. For food, there also are standards the EU doesn't like. Hormone-fed beef is one area of contention. 'If we sell you a vegetable or a car or a product if it's safe to use in the U.S. it should deemed to be safe to use in the EU,' Sondland said. The U.S. is tired of talking about impediments to its foreign trade and wants action now, he said. Gordon Sondland, formerly the U.S ambassador to the European Union. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty ... More Images) Sondland, who didn't claim to speak for the Trump administration, was ambassador to the EU during Trump's first term. There is some good news for Europe because its aggressive reaction to the Trump demands suggests it misunderstands Trump's position. According to Daily Telegraph of London columnist Sherelle Jacobs, Trump isn't interested in seeking an unfair advantage for America, he simply wants to force countries using unfair trading methods to commit to free trade. 'Trump-sceptics love to deride the president for his branding of tariff imposition day as Liberation Day. But while the means are undoubtedly protectionist, the ends are essentially libertarian. Put simply, Trump is trying to beat countries with a stick until they agree to dismantle red tape that is holding back global demand for U.S. goods and services,' Jacobs said.
Telegraph
28-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Only Donald Trump can rescue Rachel Reeves from her own folly
Rachel Reeves is in a dreadful mess of her own making. Since she entered No 11, virtually every data point has worsened as a direct result of her blunders. Taxation and spending are on track to reach record highs. Business confidence and growth forecasts have nosedived. Her predictable excuse is Donald Trump. His tariffs hadn't been announced when she delivered her Spring Statement, and the deterioration of the economy had nothing to do with his actions. Still she pointedly lamented the uncertain global outlook and 'unstable' trading patterns. So it is a great irony that Trump could be the one to save her from her current predicament. This is for one simple reason: the only way out for Reeves is a trade deal with the US. This may sound counter-intuitive given Trump's 'Liberation Day' on April 2 might see his administration impose 25 per cent tariffs on global and UK automotives, crippling what remains of our car industry. This would hand Labour the excuse it has long desired to pursue closer economic links with the EU, reducing 'friction' with our 'biggest trading partner'. But Keir Starmer will not renegotiate our relationship on better terms: if the EU believes we are desperate, it will revert to its old tricks and seek to extract too much. The combination of a trade war from America and a poor deal with the EU, implying a return to regulatory harmonisation from Brussels, would not just sound the death knell for our economy, but for this Labour Government. Such a scenario would prove extremely fertile ground for Reform. But there is a way out. Britain could still negotiate a free trade agreement with the US, even if the deadline on cars is missed. Trump-sceptics love to deride the president for his branding of tariff imposition day as Liberation Day. But while the means are undoubtedly protectionist, the ends are essentially libertarian. Put simply, Trump is trying to beat countries with a stick until they agree to dismantle red tape that is holding back global demand for US goods and services. America is resorting to tariffs for one main reason. Over the past four decades, many countries have followed the US in lowering their tariff regimes, but they have not torn down regulatory barriers, or dealt with anti-competitive distortions. Trump's masterplan is to create a new 'coalition of the willing', with the world divided into those who welcome competitive dynamism and those who cling to stagnation. If Britain joins Trump's club, the prize would be huge. Amid the liberalisation of agricultural trade, the cost of the weekly shop could drop, as the price of everything from fruit and (chlorinated) chicken to rice plummets. Sectors, from aviation to finance in the City, would boom. UK defence consultancy firms will rake it in, having unlocked access to million-dollar US public sector contracts. A new era of innovation will be unleashed, as science and tech are given the necessary nudge to unshackle themselves from the EU's precautionary principle. This is one of the dumbest notions to corrupt Europe in the post-war era, demanding the inventor prove their novel idea is completely safe, rather than requiring blockers to prove it is harmful. It has stifled progress, and entrenched monopolies. The US approach is far better, and has sparked an entrepreneurial explosion in the Silicon Valley and beyond. A deal will also bring about bonuses that ought in theory to delight the Left. Ending restrictions on GM food would mean no longer depriving the poor of nutritional, cheap sustenance; it would help neutralise the narrative around welfare cuts. Faster growth would boost resources available for health and education. Shanker Singham, a leading trade expert, has modelled the impact of an EU reset involving dynamic alignment and a 25 per cent US tariff. He found a potential 7 per cent hit to the economy. Conversely, penning a deal with the Americans could yield an 8 per cent boost to the economy. As he says: 'If you are in freefall and someone offers you an arm, you're just going to have to take it.' It would also be a political gamechanger for Labour. The Tories would find it hard to recover from the humiliating spectacle of the Remainer Labour Party sealing the most coveted of post-Brexit trade deals – one which they themselves dithered over until it was too late. Reform's grand narrative that 'Britain is broken' would suddenly look miserabilist. Making a virtue of volatility would help Britain to regain its sense of agency. Even technocrats must someday realise that to survive they cannot just navigate the storm; they must learn to surf the wave. Keir Starmer is rightly talking with the Trump administration about such a deal. Encouragingly, he appears willing to ditch a tax on US tech firms – a sensible move with or without any trade agreement, given the stupidity of the original levy. Many Labour Remainers are beginning to talk like full-fat Leavers. One told me: 'We have to take a more muscular approach to Brussels. They can't get upset with us doing our own deals. We left the EU and they gave us a trade deal that erects barriers to our goods and services.' Some of the PM's allies fantasise that the UK could thrive as the only country in the world capable of balancing decent relationships with the US, Europe and China. Human rights lawyer Starmer, in his element gallivanting on the global stage, is keen to rebuild the Blairite vision of Britain as a bridge. It is an idea that will have to be redefined in the event of America actually withdrawing from the Continent, potentially destroying Nato, but it demonstrates the breadth of Starmerite willingness. A bigger hurdle may be the existence of a residue of Remainers militantly opposed to a deal with America. But those close to Starmer say that his greatest strengths are his clear sightedness, his ruthlessness and his unparalleled ambition. If that is so, it is hard to see how he could pass up the chance to pull off the most astonishing of coups – and finally deliver, if not the Brexit boom that the Tories squandered, at least a remarkable economic comeback.
