[rtkwe]

Trade and tarriff relief are an option still. Despite how shitty the US has been and the distrust that will cause in the future access to US markets will be very attractive until the economy collapses. Soft power isn't just from countries liking you after all.

[crossroadsguy]

Access to US market? Is that a joke you are trying to crack? An “access” that literally depends upon how loud the orange fool farted on the commode that morning — that access and that market? I mean do you really not see what’s happening or you are just being a nice contrarian? Because this baffles me.

[rtkwe]

It's still a very rich market and I'm mostly looking to a post Trump world. I completely understand other countries are going to be much more dubious about giving things up permanently for long term promises but things like not blocking sites or allowing US access to the markets both of which can be easily in response to another Trump-esque flailing is a much easier ask and negotiation.

I'm not saying things will return to the pre-Trump semi-hegemony but I do think it's over the top to think the US economy will have zero soft power in the years after Trump too.

[happymellon]

> Trade and tarriff relief are an option still.

That surely is running out of steam. Everyone's got whiplash from trying to watch America and it's tariffs. How do you know it won't be applied anyway, or forgiven for whatever flavour of the day policy it changes to.

There is very little point in conceding to it when you'll have another opportunity for something else that might be more amicable before the inks dry on that tariff.

[micw]

Would be a good reason for the EU to start a 200% tariff for US software and cloud services then.

[sssilver]

How would this work? Wouldn't a reciprocal tariff with identical parameters by the US against EU tech companies completely obliterate EU tech landscape?

[microtonal]

Most EU tech companies probably have primarily European customers (given that services export from the US to the EU is much larger than the other way around). Second, all those EU customers are looking for EU alternatives that do not have a huge tariff.

Reciprocal tariffs would (for the EU) hurt export of goods much more, since that is where the EU has a large surplus.

[sssilver]

The number of tech companies matters less than their scale. SAP, Spotify, and Dassault Systèmes likely have more economic impact than ten thousand tiny software shops combined. And notably, all three derive a huge portion of their revenue from the US market.

[argsnd]

The US simply has more numerous and more important companies that rely on being able to freely export their services globally. The leverage here is with Europeans not only because of this asymmetry but because there is also more political appetite there to punish America than there is in America to punish Europe.

[dirasieb]

...and collapse their own economies in the process

[riffraff]

> Trade and tarriff relief are an option still

Are they though? Trump tried to use them to get ownership of Greenland a few weeks ago and just gave up. Then he tried to bully Canada again, and also gave up again. I think at this point nobody takes his offers of relief or threats seriously anymore, since any deal you make can be invalidated a couple weeks later.

[rtkwe]

There's a huge range of stuff way below trying to annex Greenland or the strong arming he tried to use against Greenland. This thread was talking about how the US could get countries to not block their free anti-censorship VPN not territory annexation. It's a way smaller ask, comparing them borders on absurd.

[riffraff]

I was not clear, I am not saying telling Canada not to make a deal with China is the same as telling the UK not to limit porn.

I am saying we have seen multiple instances where countries have stopped considering Trump's deals, cause they cannot be relied on.

[nickorlow]

Tarriff relief isn't much of an option as of a few mins ago...

[rtkwe]

There are still loads of completely legally valid tariff and other trade barriers ripe for negotiation that existed long before the ill named 2025 "Freedom Day".

[jjtwixman]

Bro literally nobody trusts you any more. We do what you say, you put tariffs on us, we don't do what you say, you put tariffs on us.

We don't care any more. We don't like you. Do you understand?