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As an EU citizen, I think we have no choice but to be tough here. Trump’s tariffs aren’t something we asked for, but backing down isn’t an option either—he’ll j

As an EU citizen, I think we have no choice but to be tough here. Trump’s tariffs aren’t something we asked for, but backing down isn’t an option either—he’ll just keep pushing. Targeting US services, especially big tech, makes sense because it hits where the US is genuinely vulnerable, and Europe can’t match them dollar-for-dollar on goods alone. Look, I’d prefer a cooperative relationship too, but diplomacy clearly hasn’t worked. The US administration needs to understand that actions have consequences, and if this means leveraging our market strength and standing firm, then that’s exactly what we have to do. If the EU doesn’t respond decisively, we’ll only embolden more aggressive policies from Trump’s side. We’ve tried being patient. Now it’s about showing we won’t be pushed around.

FirmwareBurner 2y ago
[flagged]
- Symbiote 2y ago
  Did you read it? jurmous's points seem to be aligned with the article.
  - FirmwareBurner 2y ago
    What makes you think his comment is based on the article? I have read the article and I found it very thin on the details regarding any specifics on what exactly "tariffing big tech" would be, especially that StarLink mentioned in the article is not really "big tech" in EU, but more of a niche ISP. Which is why I believe he didn't read it, plus the general trend of HN users to rush to comment without reading the articles that's a meme at this point, which only results in low quality emotionally charged rants being upvoted to the top even though they have little to do with the article in the topic. And the actual big-tech would be more difficult to tariff since their products don't cross any customs like star link, but are all sold by companies registered in the EU, same how example Fords are also manufactured in the EU to get around tariffs.
    - sometimes_all 2y ago
      Kinda-sorta agree with your point, it's the HN headline that has been editorialized. The actual article mentions services as a whole, not big tech specifically, which makes it seem that the GP focused more on the headline, but even their comment is talking about services as a whole. In terms of your comment, they didn't say Starlink is big tech. The paragraph in question separates them with the word "another example": > A fightback could include restrictions on the intellectual property of Big Tech companies. Another example would be banning Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network from winning government contracts. As for big tech examples examples, the article did mention revoking of patents, or obstructing revenues on software updates and streaming. But yeah, the article is otherwise thin on details wrt big tech, primarily because it's not focusing on that topic specifically.
- isodev 2y ago
  Out of curiosity, do you disagree with the point? Or perhaps you have something to add or interject?
  - FirmwareBurner 2y ago
    Excuse me for wanting to know the full context of the topic and do critical thinking before commenting on it, instead of opening my mouth to parrot the "Orange Man Evil" party line to farm upvotes. See my arguments on the topic here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43503672 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43503672 BTW, what are your opinions and arguments on the topic, or do you just enjoy cosplaying as HN hall monitor?
    - freilanzer 2y ago
      > instead of opening my mouth to parrot the "Orange Man Evil" party line to farm upvotes. Or, you know, Europeans and Canadians might actually see the Orange Man for what he is, and express their opinions.
      - FirmwareBurner 2y ago
        What does the article have to do with Trump? He won't be president forever.
        freilanzer 2y ago
        Are you asking what the current political trends in the EU, which the article is about, have to do with Trump, the president of the USA?
        tim333 2y ago
        First sentence: >The EU is considering ... to retaliate against Donald Trump... Did you by chance read the article yourself?
    - n4r9 2y ago
      Your arguments aren't in conflict with jurmous, though. The article can be thin on details and jurmous could be correct that the EU needs to be tough. I get the sense no one is really sure what you're taking umbrage at. It doesn't help that you mix in flame bait accusations about other posters' motivations.
- belter 2y ago
  Two things here can't be true at the same time: You either believe that a guy who went bankrupt six times running casinos, and thinks tariffs are paid by the export country...Is an economic genius, OR you believe Warren Buffet and every other US and European analyst that says this is going to be one of the few artificially induced recessions. Which one of them is going to be? And now is pressuring car manufacturers not to follow normal corporate financial management... "Trump Warned U.S. Automakers Not to Raise Prices in Response to Tariffs" - https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/trump-tariffs-automaker-prices-warning-928bc7a9 https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/trump-tariffs-automaker-p...
  - johngladtj 2y ago
    Warren buffet historically supported tariffs...
    - FirmwareBurner 2y ago
      Warren buffet historically has profited from all crisis's since he alwasy plays both sides.
    - belter 2y ago
      https://www.youtube.com/shorts/46RN9Fz66p0 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/46RN9Fz66p0
    - belter 2y ago
      There you go... "Core inflation in February hits 2.8%, higher than expected" - https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/28/pce-inflation-february-2025-.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/28/pce-inflation-february-2025-... Lululemon Q4 2024 Earnings Call of yesterday: "...In fact, based on a survey we conducted earlier this month in conjunction with Ipsos, consumers are spending less due to increased concerns about inflation and the economy. This is manifesting itself into slower traffic across the industry in the U.S. in Quarter 1, which we are experiencing in our business as well..."
- belter 2y ago
  "Anyone?, anyone?" - https://youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA https://youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA "Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Ac...
  - FirmwareBurner 2y ago
    True story, though in the 1930's the US was not the global hegemony it is today nor did it control the global reserve currency. Back then the British empire held that crown. The US of today is a different beast than in the 1930s.
    - Zigurd 2y ago
      The 1980s called... TBF the past decade was pretty great, but we didn't get back to those levels.

FirmwareBurner 2y ago

[flagged]

Symbiote 2y ago
Did you read it? jurmous's points seem to be aligned with the article.
- FirmwareBurner 2y ago
  What makes you think his comment is based on the article? I have read the article and I found it very thin on the details regarding any specifics on what exactly "tariffing big tech" would be, especially that StarLink mentioned in the article is not really "big tech" in EU, but more of a niche ISP. Which is why I believe he didn't read it, plus the general trend of HN users to rush to comment without reading the articles that's a meme at this point, which only results in low quality emotionally charged rants being upvoted to the top even though they have little to do with the article in the topic. And the actual big-tech would be more difficult to tariff since their products don't cross any customs like star link, but are all sold by companies registered in the EU, same how example Fords are also manufactured in the EU to get around tariffs.
  - sometimes_all 2y ago
    Kinda-sorta agree with your point, it's the HN headline that has been editorialized. The actual article mentions services as a whole, not big tech specifically, which makes it seem that the GP focused more on the headline, but even their comment is talking about services as a whole. In terms of your comment, they didn't say Starlink is big tech. The paragraph in question separates them with the word "another example": > A fightback could include restrictions on the intellectual property of Big Tech companies. Another example would be banning Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network from winning government contracts. As for big tech examples examples, the article did mention revoking of patents, or obstructing revenues on software updates and streaming. But yeah, the article is otherwise thin on details wrt big tech, primarily because it's not focusing on that topic specifically.
isodev 2y ago
Out of curiosity, do you disagree with the point? Or perhaps you have something to add or interject?
- FirmwareBurner 2y ago
  Excuse me for wanting to know the full context of the topic and do critical thinking before commenting on it, instead of opening my mouth to parrot the "Orange Man Evil" party line to farm upvotes. See my arguments on the topic here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43503672 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43503672 BTW, what are your opinions and arguments on the topic, or do you just enjoy cosplaying as HN hall monitor?
  - freilanzer 2y ago
    > instead of opening my mouth to parrot the "Orange Man Evil" party line to farm upvotes. Or, you know, Europeans and Canadians might actually see the Orange Man for what he is, and express their opinions.
    - FirmwareBurner 2y ago
      What does the article have to do with Trump? He won't be president forever.
      - freilanzer 2y ago
        Are you asking what the current political trends in the EU, which the article is about, have to do with Trump, the president of the USA?
      - tim333 2y ago
        First sentence: >The EU is considering ... to retaliate against Donald Trump... Did you by chance read the article yourself?
  - n4r9 2y ago
    Your arguments aren't in conflict with jurmous, though. The article can be thin on details and jurmous could be correct that the EU needs to be tough. I get the sense no one is really sure what you're taking umbrage at. It doesn't help that you mix in flame bait accusations about other posters' motivations.
belter 2y ago
Two things here can't be true at the same time: You either believe that a guy who went bankrupt six times running casinos, and thinks tariffs are paid by the export country...Is an economic genius, OR you believe Warren Buffet and every other US and European analyst that says this is going to be one of the few artificially induced recessions. Which one of them is going to be? And now is pressuring car manufacturers not to follow normal corporate financial management... "Trump Warned U.S. Automakers Not to Raise Prices in Response to Tariffs" - https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/trump-tariffs-automaker-prices-warning-928bc7a9 https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/trump-tariffs-automaker-p...
- johngladtj 2y ago
  Warren buffet historically supported tariffs...
  - FirmwareBurner 2y ago
    Warren buffet historically has profited from all crisis's since he alwasy plays both sides.
  - belter 2y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/46RN9Fz66p0 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/46RN9Fz66p0
  - belter 2y ago
    There you go... "Core inflation in February hits 2.8%, higher than expected" - https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/28/pce-inflation-february-2025-.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/28/pce-inflation-february-2025-... Lululemon Q4 2024 Earnings Call of yesterday: "...In fact, based on a survey we conducted earlier this month in conjunction with Ipsos, consumers are spending less due to increased concerns about inflation and the economy. This is manifesting itself into slower traffic across the industry in the U.S. in Quarter 1, which we are experiencing in our business as well..."
belter 2y ago
"Anyone?, anyone?" - https://youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA https://youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA "Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Ac...
- FirmwareBurner 2y ago
  True story, though in the 1930's the US was not the global hegemony it is today nor did it control the global reserve currency. Back then the British empire held that crown. The US of today is a different beast than in the 1930s.
  - Zigurd 2y ago
    The 1980s called... TBF the past decade was pretty great, but we didn't get back to those levels.