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Good! In the past few years the E.U has passed absolutely ridiculous laws and taxed U.S. based companies through these ridiculous laws because they want a slice

Good! In the past few years the E.U has passed absolutely ridiculous laws and taxed U.S. based companies through these ridiculous laws because they want a slice of the pie too. Edit: They are getting tax through fines by said ridiculous laws not by direct tax.

oneplane 8y ago
Such as? As far as I know the EU has had a rather positive position regarding the US for the last decades, and still does, even after the most recent election. According to this page: https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe... it's rather balanced. Whoever upsets that balance might need to reconsider, but the US would definitely have a problem if less stuff comes in from the EU. For the EU, however, it's less of an issue: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_122530.pdf http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_...
- stale2002 8y ago
  Well, one recent example is that of article 13, which is a massive expansion of copyright law. Yeah, no thanks. I do not at all what expansive intellectual property laws to be spreading all over the world, and hurting creators like that. Creators benefit way more when it is easy to share and use and modify other people's content.
  - oneplane 8y ago
    I don't think that has anything even remotely to do with tariffs or trade. But if it did: those lows are for the EU, not the rest of the world. Same goes for GDPR. Nobody is required to trade with the EU, or sell to the EU or buy from the EU. But if you do, the rules of the agreements that are made apply. This is nothing new, and works the same way for trade or interaction with pretty much any country. Imagine trying to sell stuff to China with Taiwanese flags...
    - stale2002 8y ago
      The original comment is referring to ridiculous laws that the EU has passed. The law in question includes things like a link tax, which is pretty ridiculous, IMO, as is the copyright fines that they have. The rest of your comment is merely a "the law is the law!" kind of justification. Yes, the law is the law. And I gave reasons as for why these laws are ridiculous, as per the original comment. I can recognize that a law exists, and also call it a horrible law, that deserves retaliation from the US. I sincerely hope that the US and everyone else uses trade laws and tariffs to cause economic damage to the EU, specifically because of these horrible laws. Fair is fair, yo. US trade tariffs are also the law, and are a good way punishing bad laws passed by other countries.
      - MagnumOpus 8y ago
        > US trade tariffs are also the law Except they aren't. WTO treaty obligations for equitable treatment of other nations (MFN obligations) supersede local laws. Overriding arbitrary local laws is the whole point of the WTO, and of every other trade treaty. The only way these tariffs work is Trump pulling the "national security emergency" card -- and obviously 'punishing' the EU for building better planes isn't a national security issue worth dismantling the WTO over.
        stale2002 8y ago
        > The only way these tariffs work is Trump pulling the "national security emergency" card So it is the law then. Too bad, so sad, but the law allows this. It sounds like you just disagree with the law. But that's the law! > worth dismantling the WTO over. And nothing is worth dismantling the free and open internet with oppressive copyright laws. So, I can use that exact same argument against the EU's horrible laws.
olliej 8y ago
Oh, you mean like direct tax subsidies, "investment" incentives, and overpaying for defense contracts? Because that's what the US does, and the WTO also ruled that that is an illegal. That fact that you seem to believe the rest of the world is abusing the US is more about a misplaced belief that the US's abuse of other countries is perfectly acceptable. If the US wanted to lead by example, it could do what NZ did a drop subsidies and tariffs on agriculture. But that's not what you want.
angott 8y ago
If all European countries really wanted was just a slice of the pie, they could just put a tax on foreign-owned tech companies (like France is doing). Are you seriously suggesting the EU took the trouble of implementing GDPR, causing significant disruption to European companies as well, for the sole purpose of fining FAANGs and making money out of it?
- marcrosoft 8y ago
  Yeah, pretty much.
themagician 8y ago
Yeah, what are you talking about? As a business selling into Europe you pay VAT and that's about it. But VAT has been around for a long time. If you an office in Europe then I guess you are subject to additional taxes? But you are operating in Europe, so how is that unreasonable?
Maarten88 8y ago
What ridiculous laws do you mean? GDPR? Or monopoly abuse fines? Do you think US businesses should be able to run under US law in the EU, meaning they can do whatever they want to consumers, monopolizing markets by violating local laws, taking in huge profits, and then hardly paying corporate taxes (neither in EU nor US)? None of that has anything to do with these tariffs, btw.
- marcrosoft 8y ago
  Do you think the EU should be able to enforce a law on a global scale and completely ignore country jurisdiction like they attempt to do with GDPR?
  - angott 8y ago
    The US has forever been ignoring jurisdiction boundaries just like that. Ever heard of FATCA? Banks anywhere in the world need to report US-resident account holders to the IRS.
    - CaptainZapp 8y ago
      Which is the reason, why you may have a very hard time to open a bank account abroad, when you're a US citizen. Banks just don't want to deal with that shit, if they can avoid it.
  - Maarten88 8y ago
    They enforce it only on businesses targeting EU residents. What do you think the US does when I start a business here, say a webshop selling legally allowed recreational drugs, also targeting US consumers?
  - ummonk 8y ago
    You mean like the US does to Huawei?
  - belltaco 8y ago
    Huh, haven't you heard of offshore sports betting site owners getting arrested? Also, remember kimdotcom?

oneplane 8y ago

Such as? As far as I know the EU has had a rather positive position regarding the US for the last decades, and still does, even after the most recent election. According to this page: https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe... it's rather balanced. Whoever upsets that balance might need to reconsider, but the US would definitely have a problem if less stuff comes in from the EU. For the EU, however, it's less of an issue: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_122530.pdf http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_...

stale2002 8y ago
Well, one recent example is that of article 13, which is a massive expansion of copyright law. Yeah, no thanks. I do not at all what expansive intellectual property laws to be spreading all over the world, and hurting creators like that. Creators benefit way more when it is easy to share and use and modify other people's content.
- oneplane 8y ago
  I don't think that has anything even remotely to do with tariffs or trade. But if it did: those lows are for the EU, not the rest of the world. Same goes for GDPR. Nobody is required to trade with the EU, or sell to the EU or buy from the EU. But if you do, the rules of the agreements that are made apply. This is nothing new, and works the same way for trade or interaction with pretty much any country. Imagine trying to sell stuff to China with Taiwanese flags...
  - stale2002 8y ago
    The original comment is referring to ridiculous laws that the EU has passed. The law in question includes things like a link tax, which is pretty ridiculous, IMO, as is the copyright fines that they have. The rest of your comment is merely a "the law is the law!" kind of justification. Yes, the law is the law. And I gave reasons as for why these laws are ridiculous, as per the original comment. I can recognize that a law exists, and also call it a horrible law, that deserves retaliation from the US. I sincerely hope that the US and everyone else uses trade laws and tariffs to cause economic damage to the EU, specifically because of these horrible laws. Fair is fair, yo. US trade tariffs are also the law, and are a good way punishing bad laws passed by other countries.
    - MagnumOpus 8y ago
      > US trade tariffs are also the law Except they aren't. WTO treaty obligations for equitable treatment of other nations (MFN obligations) supersede local laws. Overriding arbitrary local laws is the whole point of the WTO, and of every other trade treaty. The only way these tariffs work is Trump pulling the "national security emergency" card -- and obviously 'punishing' the EU for building better planes isn't a national security issue worth dismantling the WTO over.
      - stale2002 8y ago
        > The only way these tariffs work is Trump pulling the "national security emergency" card So it is the law then. Too bad, so sad, but the law allows this. It sounds like you just disagree with the law. But that's the law! > worth dismantling the WTO over. And nothing is worth dismantling the free and open internet with oppressive copyright laws. So, I can use that exact same argument against the EU's horrible laws.

olliej 8y ago

Oh, you mean like direct tax subsidies, "investment" incentives, and overpaying for defense contracts? Because that's what the US does, and the WTO also ruled that that is an illegal. That fact that you seem to believe the rest of the world is abusing the US is more about a misplaced belief that the US's abuse of other countries is perfectly acceptable. If the US wanted to lead by example, it could do what NZ did a drop subsidies and tariffs on agriculture. But that's not what you want.

angott 8y ago

If all European countries really wanted was just a slice of the pie, they could just put a tax on foreign-owned tech companies (like France is doing). Are you seriously suggesting the EU took the trouble of implementing GDPR, causing significant disruption to European companies as well, for the sole purpose of fining FAANGs and making money out of it?

marcrosoft 8y ago
Yeah, pretty much.

themagician 8y ago

Yeah, what are you talking about? As a business selling into Europe you pay VAT and that's about it. But VAT has been around for a long time. If you an office in Europe then I guess you are subject to additional taxes? But you are operating in Europe, so how is that unreasonable?

Maarten88 8y ago

What ridiculous laws do you mean? GDPR? Or monopoly abuse fines? Do you think US businesses should be able to run under US law in the EU, meaning they can do whatever they want to consumers, monopolizing markets by violating local laws, taking in huge profits, and then hardly paying corporate taxes (neither in EU nor US)? None of that has anything to do with these tariffs, btw.

marcrosoft 8y ago
Do you think the EU should be able to enforce a law on a global scale and completely ignore country jurisdiction like they attempt to do with GDPR?
- angott 8y ago
  The US has forever been ignoring jurisdiction boundaries just like that. Ever heard of FATCA? Banks anywhere in the world need to report US-resident account holders to the IRS.
  - CaptainZapp 8y ago
    Which is the reason, why you may have a very hard time to open a bank account abroad, when you're a US citizen. Banks just don't want to deal with that shit, if they can avoid it.
- Maarten88 8y ago
  They enforce it only on businesses targeting EU residents. What do you think the US does when I start a business here, say a webshop selling legally allowed recreational drugs, also targeting US consumers?
- ummonk 8y ago
  You mean like the US does to Huawei?
- belltaco 8y ago
  Huh, haven't you heard of offshore sports betting site owners getting arrested? Also, remember kimdotcom?