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Comment by lucasyvas | Hacker News Reader

This is going to be used as the basis of the tariff. It doesn’t matter if the Trump administration is correct. Take it from a fentanyl-slinging Canadian - they’re either dumb or grasping for straws / full of shit.

They are telling you tariffs are coming and they have identified the scapegoat to communicate to their voter base.

That’s all you need to know. I’m honestly not sure why anyone is bothering discussing it since it’s a waste of time.

If you are debating it, it means you are already behind the curve of understanding of where it’s going.

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As a European, I see it as a blessing in disguise. America is a reckless country that goes from crisis to crisis due to being terminally greedy. And now, they're even unable to keep a stable political landscape. The fewer economic ties we have, the better.

Unfortunately, this insane country has the means to literally annihilate the whole planet, loot most other countries, or simply sabotage them.

They don’t have the will they just want you to think they do.

That would require commitment, so I think we're probably safe.

They can bring down the economy of much of the world, though, and that doesn't require much commitment.

As a European myself, I wouldn't be too sanctimonious. The EU has a lot to fix internally.

> The fewer economic ties we have, the better.

the catch is, in place of economic ties we will get war.

Economic ties don't stop wars. It was a theory of the 90's liberalism, and it was an illusion.

It has worked well for the EU since its inception as the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952

"Wandel durch Handel" didnt work out that well, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandel_durch_Handel

The EU is a web of political ties. An EU of only economic ties without any political commitment is what the UK wanted, and lok what happened.

If you only want economic ties there are many options, like joining EEA or EFTA

No idea why you're getting downvoted. The rules of the game have changed. The rational actors will have to adapt.

Bots or people in complete denial. People are waking up a bit slower than expected to the reality of what is happening. I completely understand in a way, because it only becomes clear once the barrel is pointed at you. At that point, it’s too late.

Trying to help out where I can - this is all misdirection. I’m sure there are a lot of smart people on here fascinated by pattern recognition. It’s their time to shine.

It’s being discussed so that people don’t believe this is actually rational.

I appreciate your optimism but the people you hope to convince are no longer listening.

Some are, as evidenced in this very thread.

Given the present state of European military security, I'm not sure Europe has rational actors in charge, either.

From the US’s perspective, what does it matter? The fact is VAT is applied to US imports.

And I also pay general sales tax (GST) and provincial sales tax (PST) on everything imported from the US, or domestically made. Are you dense?

What you're ignoring is that the VAT is not just applied to imports. It's applied to all consumption, it doesn't matter whether the good was imported, produced locally, or a mix.

From the US perspective, US is not discriminated against when it has exactly the same rules applied to them as anyone else. So, yes, it matters from the US perspective.

It may not matter for the lies US spreads and sells, but that is different thing then perspective.

I can understand that phrasing - it sounds like they’re trying to impose the American way on sovereign nations. I think they may be surprised that they get nowhere on this.

Just like it’s applied to domestically manufactured goods as well …

The fact is the tax does not discriminate based on origin of the goods. It’s a tax on consumption.

So from the US perspective it matters to the degree that using a false premise to impose import tariffs might harm US interests.

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