alt Hacker NewsThe reason the US is able to raise rents (tariffs) has nothing to do with Europe buying US digital services.
The tariffs are on European exports. The problem is Europe has a weak domestic consumer market and is dependent on selling stuff to the US, not buying from them.
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jamesblonde • yesterday at 1:31 PM
Nonsense. Unilaterial tarrifs are not how trade agreements work. This is pure extractive rent.
The reason the US is not able to extract the same rents from China is that they have digital sovereignty and the US cannot just pull the cloud plug from them.
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The EU has a services deficit compared to the US, the US has a goods deficit compared to Europe. Together, they are almost in balance, the difference is just 3% of total trade [1]. Put differently, the US and the EU need each other. This is why Trump is using footguns.
[1] https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-cou...