That was a surprise: the American president Trump said this week that Ukraine would be quite able to recover his territory lost to Russia. And, he added later, if Russian combat aircraft were once again allowed to violate the airspace of a NATO country, as happened in the Baltic States shortly before, then you just have to bring them down.
It was the umpteenth twist in Washington on European safety. And after the first surprise was away, it was soon concluded in various capitals that even this change was not what he seemed: no America that finally unambiguously supported Kyiv and the European allies, but one that was losing his interest in the war. Freely translated: you go ahead.
Much has been written about the countless tours of the current US government. This applies to geopolitics and geo-economy, and the entire field of topics that are at the intersection of both. This week a new one was added: 100 percent import duties on brand medicines, unless the (especially European) companies they make moving production to the United States – and can prove that they do this.
For the last in Europe who thought that the trade agreement with the US from earlier this year was worth the paper on which it was written, this must have been the proof that nothing is certain, nothing is definitive. The way in which the US was dealing with Europe (and with other ‘frenemies’) did not only look like extortion; It must now be concluded that it is actually this.
Europe is especially weak because it has neglected its own defense and is vulnerable to the growing Russian threat on the eastern border. That makes it difficult to be too assertive. But that does not mean that nothing can be done about it.
The business community, where decisions are generally much more acute than in politics, has already shot a lot further on the learning curve. Reported earlier this week NRC About the administrative chaos that Dutch small and medium-sized businesses have to deal with as a result of Trumps twisting in the field of import duties. Entrepreneurs see customers in the US disappear, orders are sent without mercy return sender if there is too little information about the origin of the components to the sentences of American customs. And a supplier of cultivation systems may no longer send their own people with an order to put the system together, because only Americans can do that themselves. Mechanics are immediately put back home on the plane, only someone who calls himself ‘supervisor’ is still allowed in the country.
The damage caused by business is great. The extra information requests cost exporting companies thousands of extra man -hours, the loss of American customers requires in the best case to reconsider and in the worst case for cuts. The Handelsdeal that Trump closed with the EU appears to be worthless in practice at the end of July, especially because American companies can have European competitors on a blacklist, for which extra high levies, can still be placed if they still experience too much inconvenience from them. Today your products are still welcome in the US, tomorrow it can be different.
The result of all this in entrepreneurial Europe is no longer a wait -and -see attitude, but a practical one. Seeing how to deal with the situation for sure. But also keep the gaze focused on alternative markets, within Europe or towards South America or Asia. Those who are less dependent can make the American grilling slide away more easily.
This also applies to Europe’s political decision makers. In many hostage drama, winning time is an essential strategy. That is no different for Brussels. Time to build a common and powerful defense, time to strengthen its economy and its order. To help society get rid of fossil energy – not only for the climate, but also not to be dependent on foreign suppliers such as the US. And finally: time to look for alternatives in the rest of the world for the previously trusted partner who now comes home drunk every night.
The game with time explains why Washington now seems to get his way so often. Yes, that seems weak. But it is also, if it is done correctly, calculation. Who knows, after next year’s American congress elections, it will get better, or after the presidential elections in three years. But it would be naive.
It is better to draw your own plan. The storm of measures, initiatives, decrees and grilling from Washington who reaches the continent day after week after week, does not stop. Although it sometimes doesn’t seem that way, Trump’s presidency is just a little more than nine months old. In other words, it is not yet a fifth of the entire four -year period.
This requires a coherent and steadfast answer – within the current limitations that Europe largely owes to itself to itself.
The latter takes time. How to get through the intervening period of chaotic or to get through? Ballet dancers prevent the dizziness of a pirouette to keep the eyes, with short interruptions, focused on a fixed point in the distance. That strategy can be applied against the continuous disruption that the Trump government causes. Unity about the nature and essence of the European future – the point in the distance – is essential.
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