European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said EU is opening the door for Canada to become the first associate member of the 27-member bloc.

Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the European Union or halt trade with the bloc entirely if it proceeds with the plan.

The proposal signals a significant shift in the EU, which had been lukewarm to Germany’s proposal in May of an associate membership for Ukraine.

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[–] 86 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

"Hostile act" says the guy who's been threatening to invade Greenland.

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  • [–] 84 points 3 weeks ago* (3 children)

    So, let me get this straight

    Trump imposes tariffs on Canada and the EU

    In response Canada and the EU move to have closer ties, including trade

    Trump threatens more tariffs

    ...genius

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  • [–] 70 points 3 weeks ago

    If he's mad, you're doing right.

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  • [–] 50 points 3 weeks ago (18 children)

    Doesn't this remind us of something? Hmm... what other state wanted to join the EU and faced thread and an hostile reaction by its oversized neighbor?

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    [–] 29 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    This tariff talk is so tiring. It is better to just pull from the US market and invest in the rest of the world.

    He can put all the tariffs he wants, the effect on who doesn't do business in the US will be minimal.

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  • [–] 14 points 3 weeks ago

    This fucking guy.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)
  • [–] 7 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

    Who is even trading with the US anymore? He is doing his best to piss of all the major trade partners of the US, and everyone still trading with them is constantly going to have to worry about whether the manchild is throwing a tariff tantrum again.

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  • [–] [S] 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    Everyone. The US is a huge and important market and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Let's not be delusional.

    I expect companies will see trading with the US as more of a risk now, and take measures like requiring a premium, but trade with the US will continue, just by the sheer size of the US market.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 weeks ago

    Absolutely.

    Continuity is extremely important in trade relations. If I plan to tie my economy to yours I want to be certain that the rules of those ties won't suddenly change. That's not the case with the USA anymore; that's one side of the coin.

    The other side is that the USA are a big market that has, until recently, been fairly reliable. There's a lot of money to be made by dealing with them and there are a lot of established relations that would be expensive to change. In some cases companies can't even pivot to other markets as their business is too specific.

    So trade will continue but the States are no longer guaranteed to be the preferred partner. Especially when making new trade deals the USA no longer get the benefit of goodwill. Previously they could argue that signing a deal with them meant decades of reliable access to a large, stable, and prosperous market and that a few unfavorable tradeoffs are worth it. Now they can't even guarantee that the deal won't be unilaterally canceled within months or that their market has much purchasing capacity. As a result everyone else is much more inclined to seek alternate trade deals and play hardball when the USA come to negotiate.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

    US is the second biggest economy in the world. You can't just completely ignore it.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

    Second biggest? Most economists would compare by gdp and in that regard the US is the biggest by quite a lot and has been for decades (https://www.worldcountrydata.com/en/rankings/gdp). Do agree you can't just ignore them, unfortunately.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    Just fucking do it once and for all you piece of shit, I'm tired of all the bullshit

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  • [–] 0 points 3 weeks ago*

    I'm also tired but i really hope he doesn't. If this is what the restraint version of him causes, i dont want to know what the unleashed version of him can do. He's already proven how incapable he is of seeing what kind of results his actions will have, just look at the Iran war for example. If he just fucking does it we might as well nuke half the planet.

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  • upliftingnews

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  • [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago

    Great.

    Lets have Carlifornia (with Gavin Newsoom) as associated member next.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 weeks ago

    Smell like BITCH to me.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago*

    Would someone explain to this one orange braincell what a fucking tariff is?

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  • [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago
    [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    Wait until a reporter asks Sleepy Don about the Monroe Doctrine.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago*

    Why would they care what a soon to be lame duck pedophile thinks?

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