3 ms·
> France, Ireland and Italy secured the removal of Bourbon whiskey from the list of targeted products, after Trump threatened that its inclusion would trigger c
by JKCalhoun 2y ago
> France, Ireland and Italy secured the removal of Bourbon whiskey from the list of targeted products, after Trump threatened that its inclusion would trigger counter-imposition of a 200% tariff on European alcohol.
Wild times.
- lenerdenator 2y agoIreland is probably the place that got that passed. The US has a soft spot for Ireland.
- DHolzer 2y agoa tax evading soft spot that is.
- FirmwareBurner 2y agoThe EU could change that if it wanted to. I imagine more money is lost due to tax avoidance than from US tariffs.
- disgruntledphd2 2y ago> The EU could change that if it wanted to. They definitely can't, given that tax decisions require unanimity. Like, if they didn't get this sorted when they had Ireland over a barrel in 2011, it's probably not going to happen. Full disclosure: I am an Irish citizen.
- forty 2y agoStill it would not be very hard for individual countries to find indirect ways to tax them individually. Like putting 50% VAT on extensive phones to target Apple, or on application stores revenue, etc.
- disgruntledphd2 2y agoAgain no. VAT is also managed at EU level. The digital services tax could be done. The best thing would be to implement the full beps agreement but the US don't want that.
- forty 2y agoIs it? It looks like it ranges from 17% to 27% depending on countries, so I assumed it was still national decision.
- lenerdenator 2y agoThat, and cultural. Irish-Americans are less ambivalent about their roots than many other people of European descent - being excited about being part-German in Missouri is tantamount to being excited about watching paint dry, for example - and the fact that a man of Irish descent was President of the United States within two centuries of the "famine" and after centuries of oppression by the English boosts the credibility of America as a "land of opportunity", even if only in retrospect.
- gmuslera 2y agoNever imagine that Trump tariffs would end creating a new drinking game.
- mytailorisrich 2y agoFrance exports EUR3.8 BILLION a year in booze to the US, Italy about EUR2 billion, and Ireland about EUR1 billion, so they are rightly worried about their industry should the US hit with a 200% tariff.
- sebazzz 2y agoYes, but this is exactly how it should not be done because countries are played out against each other. This only works if there is one front.
- mytailorisrich 2y agoThere is one front. That's does not mean that the various interests should not be taken into account. In "normal" times this is how the US operate, too. There are various industrial regional interests that lobby the federal government, and then a decision is made.