With its woeful trade deal, Europe prostrated itself before the president. We need a leader who will tell him where to shove it, says Guardian Europe columnist Alexander Hurst
1-3 of your consideration list have been happening for a long time, 4 might be cool to see, and I think the required rare minerals needed for tech and military could be sourced from Africa but are not currently: North America and Russia are the world’s major suppliers for Platinum*, Palladium, etc. I just don’t think it’s fair to call EU leadership weak over its actions, and I also don’t think you realize the unnecessary financial burden created by your plans.
Reckon*
/* South Africa does produce the most palladium by far, but they seem to sell a lot of it to the US.
1-3 have technically been happening but not with nearly enough urgency. I don’t think you realize the potential fallout should Trump hold Microsoft hostage, the cost for my proposed points would look like pennies in comparison, besides the cost is only high because years of warning signs have been repeatedly ignored.
And I call EU leadership weak because they are, I am more than familiar with the proven incompetence/corruption of Ursual von der Leyen, she got “parked” in the EU parliament because she kept fucking up too much in government. She has on at least 3 separate occasions “accidentally” deleted potentially incriminating messages in deals suspected of corruption. And while I don’t know much about the rest but I don’t need to, when you go into negotiations for tariffs and walk out with promised investment payments, something that wasn’t even on the table before the negotiations started, that is weakness.
Raw materials are less of a concern than finished products, so long as there is an alternate source switching suppliers is comparatively child’s play compared to unbricking a weapons system because the manufacturer shut you out.
1-3 of your consideration list have been happening for a long time, 4 might be cool to see, and I think the required rare minerals needed for tech and military could be sourced from Africa but are not currently: North America and Russia are the world’s major suppliers for Platinum*, Palladium, etc. I just don’t think it’s fair to call EU leadership weak over its actions, and I also don’t think you realize the unnecessary financial burden created by your plans.
Reckon*
/* South Africa does produce the most palladium by far, but they seem to sell a lot of it to the US.
1-3 have technically been happening but not with nearly enough urgency. I don’t think you realize the potential fallout should Trump hold Microsoft hostage, the cost for my proposed points would look like pennies in comparison, besides the cost is only high because years of warning signs have been repeatedly ignored.
And I call EU leadership weak because they are, I am more than familiar with the proven incompetence/corruption of Ursual von der Leyen, she got “parked” in the EU parliament because she kept fucking up too much in government. She has on at least 3 separate occasions “accidentally” deleted potentially incriminating messages in deals suspected of corruption. And while I don’t know much about the rest but I don’t need to, when you go into negotiations for tariffs and walk out with promised investment payments, something that wasn’t even on the table before the negotiations started, that is weakness.
Raw materials are less of a concern than finished products, so long as there is an alternate source switching suppliers is comparatively child’s play compared to unbricking a weapons system because the manufacturer shut you out.