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Some countries are worried about extraterritorial enforcement of US trade policy, but they're afraid of confronting the US over the issue. Here's a recent discu

Some countries are worried about extraterritorial enforcement of US trade policy, but they're afraid of confronting the US over the issue. Here's a recent discussion on Radio France Internationale about the issue: [1]. France would like to confront the US over the issue of extraterritoriality, which many view as undermining French sovereignty, but they can't do so without support from Germany. Germany is afraid of tariffs on its auto industry, so it won't go along with France in standing up to US overreach. For the moment, the US is able to act in this manner. As long as no coalition of countries forms to push back, the US can force everyone else to stop doing business with Iran, with Huawei, and whomever else it chooses to cut off from the world economy. As a report for the French Senate points out: [2] > The European Union and its Member States have shown unity in affirming their determination to counter the effects of aggressive use by the United States of its economic and geopolitical pre-eminence. What is at stake today for Iran could also, tomorrow, apply to other countries targeted by American diplomacy. I think this sort of behavior sets a very bad precedent, though, and will undermine the post-WWII order that the US played a central role in establishing. The US agreed to bind itself within a framework of international institutions, as a form of enlightened self-interest, but more recently, the US has increasingly acted in a manner that appears purely self-interested and short-sighted. 1: https://player.fm/series/geopolitique-le-debat-65224/geopolitique-le-debat-extraterritorialite-des-sanctions-americaines-les-enjeux-geopolitiques https://player.fm/series/geopolitique-le-debat-65224/geopoli... 2: https://www.senat.fr/notice-rapport/2018/r18-017-notice.html https://www.senat.fr/notice-rapport/2018/r18-017-notice.html

wahern 7y ago
> has increasingly acted in a manner that appears purely self-interested and short-sighted. So, so short-sighted. One of main reasons the U.S. can enforce these policies is because so much of the global infrastructure for transactional settlements exists here, making it relatively easy to track, directly or indirectly (leveraging access to our infrastructure to gain access elsewhere), how money moves and to punish policy violators. Abusing this power for relatively petty reasons--as opposed to bone fide defense and criminal investigations--hastens the day we lose this capability without almost no return whatsoever. But many expected as much when the 2016 election results came in. It's the least surprising thing in the world that Trump is burning through so much soft power capital. We deserve what we get, much of irreparable.

wahern 7y ago

> has increasingly acted in a manner that appears purely self-interested and short-sighted. So, so short-sighted. One of main reasons the U.S. can enforce these policies is because so much of the global infrastructure for transactional settlements exists here, making it relatively easy to track, directly or indirectly (leveraging access to our infrastructure to gain access elsewhere), how money moves and to punish policy violators. Abusing this power for relatively petty reasons--as opposed to bone fide defense and criminal investigations--hastens the day we lose this capability without almost no return whatsoever. But many expected as much when the 2016 election results came in. It's the least surprising thing in the world that Trump is burning through so much soft power capital. We deserve what we get, much of irreparable.