[JumpCrisscross]

> it's ridiculous framing to call this Europe escalating

Shredding a trade agreement outright is absolutely an escalation relative to tariffs. It’s both more comprehensive and includes raising tariffs.

> The US has been escalating non-stop for a year. This would be Europe responding for once

Sure. By escalating.

> Constraining Washington is in their interest

Agree. But there are smart and stupid ways to do it. It’s in America’s interest to constrain China. Nuking its own oil production to raise oil prices, as an extreme example, would be a stupid way to do it. Ends not justifying the means is more than just a moral argument.

[saubeidl]

The tariffs already constitute shredding the trade agreement. This again is dishonest framing. There's no trade agreement as soon as one side breaks it. The side to break it wasn't the EU.

[bigbadfeline]

The parent of your comment is only one of the many here who go by the following scheme:

"WE can dishonor any part of any agreement but YOU have to fulfill all of your obligations according to our interpretation and under our direction... OR ELSE"

I don't know if these are real people or bots but I pity them for their lack of basic reasoning abilities.

Once one side starts removing obligations from themselves they will never stop, especially if the other side keeps being in compliance, it's just an incredible opportunity to corner the compliant side and drain it completely... and then it'll experience the "OR ELSE" part anyway but at the most damaging time and in its worst form.

There's only one choice when an agreement is broken - act as if it never existed while positioning yourself for a fair renegotiation.