Summary

Donald Trump has announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on the European Union, claiming the bloc was “formed to screw the United States.”

While details are pending, he suggested the levies would target cars and other imports. The EU, a major U.S. trading partner, has vowed immediate retaliation, with potential tariffs impacting $29.3 billion in exports.

French President Emmanuel Macron had attempted to dissuade Trump, urging focus on China instead.

Critics, including economists and conservative media, warn the tariffs could harm the U.S. economy.

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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      23 hours ago

      Assuming their supply is related to the Colombia river system, yes. It looked like all of Washington was in the watershed in the map I saw.

      How badly impacted they’d be by us messing with the upstream supply, I can’t say.

      • AbsentBird@lemm.ee
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        7 hours ago

        The Columbia flows through Eastern Washington, it’s on the other side of a mountain range from Seattle. That’s like threatening to cause an avalanche at Banff to hurt Vancouver.

        In either case it’s the environment that would bear the brunt of the conflict. If you want to hurt Seattle you could just raise our electric bill.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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          7 hours ago

          Ah, my bad. So many mountain ranges makes it hard to keep track of what flows where. I’m a little unclear on the bits I’ve been through many times, even.

          Well, IIRC the rest of Washington is a militia-ridden red state, so maybe that’s even better. (Or am I thinking of Oregon?)

          • AbsentBird@lemm.ee
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            2 hours ago

            Both actually, as depressing as that is. The entire region started as the Oregon Territory just before the civil war, and ever since the beginning has had to grapple with far right nutjobs.

            Over time the coastal west of each state became more and more blue and populous, while the east stayed rural and backwards.

            Things are slowly changing though, Spokane county has voted blue for the past decade.