Thread by @Xy5Z89

-THREADE-
#EU #USA #Germany #Russia #Sanctions

This week in the US corona and racism chaos, Trump once again had time to threaten the world with punitive tariffs and sanctions. This time it hit Germany, France, Spain and Great Britain.

According to a paper from the U.S. Department of Commerce, new punitive tariffs on imports of olives, beer, gin, and trucks, and increased tariffs on planes, cheese, and yogurt are at stake. In total, the affected products would have a volume of 2.8 billion euros a year.

Trump's new threat has two reasons: First, a procedure is underway before the World Trade Organization (WTO) to clarify whether it was right for the EU to pay goods worth EUR 10 billion from the United States, in order to contravene what it believes to be illegal subsidies,

the U.S. government to respond to the aircraft manufacturer Boeing. The trial will be decided in September, which is when the new US tariffs would come into force. Second, the new threat is an attack on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline,

which is to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia to the EU via Germany. The construction is controversial. The United States, for example, fear that Europe would become too dependent on Russian gas (and at the same time buy less in the United States).

Eastern European countries feel that they have been passed over by sea. They collect fees from the existing land-based pipelines for the gas that flows through their respective countries. At his campaign event in Tulsa last week,

Trump scolded that Germany was "guilty" of spending too little on its own military and would instead "throw billion" to President Vladimir Putin. He also reiterated his earlier threats to pull US soldiers out of Germany and impose punitive tariffs on German cars.

The threatened sanctions for Nord Stream 2 are in no way limited to Germany or other EU countries alone. Even local politicians could feel Trump's anger. Like the Sassnitz Mayor Frank Kracht from the Left Party.

The Russian ships, which are to lay the last kilometers of pipeline, anchor in the Mukran port. The port belongs to 90 percent of the city, and Kracht is thus a partner through his office - he could end up on the US sanction lists.

According to an assessment by the federal government, it would be a novelty in the case of sanctions if the administrative work of authorities and public officials became sanction-relevant. It is still unclear whether Kracht will be sanctioned.

The Mayor of Sassnitz supports Nord Stream 2, for example because the work has created well-paid jobs, but also because the communities on Rügen are less dependent on tourism through Nord Stream 2. Germany is now planning to defend itself against the new US threat,

as the financial news agency Bloomberg writes, citing an internal document from the Federal Ministry of Economics. The paper describes the effects of new US tariffs on German companies and government institutions. Specific countermeasures are not yet described.

However, two anonymous sources from the Ministry said Bloomberg that the Chancellor was working on a joint counter-strike by the EU. The confederation will not accept that the US interferes in energy issues. This could exacerbate the trade conflict between the states.

US Trade Representative Robert Lightizer is also working on a new tactic called "carousel retribution". Punitive tariffs should remain the same, but periodically switch between different industries. The aim is that no industry in the country concerned can feel safe.

At the beginning of the year, the United States had already raised tariffs on Airbus aircraft from 10 to 15 percent in this context. The Americans have been allowed punitive tariffs of this kind by the WTO.

It had judged last October that Germany and France had supported Airbus illegally for years. The judgment expected for September comes from the EU counterclaim for subsidies to Boeing. Both parties have been fighting over the two aircraft manufacturers for 15 years.

New issues between the USA and Europe are already inevitable. Next Friday, EU diplomats will discuss whether the US entry ban will persist due to the corona pandemic. Given the increasing number of infections in the United States, this is considered likely.

In addition, the EU and the US are arguing about the digital tax planned in Germany. This is intended to tax profits of digital companies where they are achieved, but also services that were previously tax-free.

This applies, for example, when trading customer data, personalized advertising or when referring customers. A digital tax in the EU would hit US companies hard because they are leaders in the digital world. The United States had withdrawn from earlier talks.

After the US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, the EU Commission is already preparing countermeasures. This is the result of a written response by the EU's foreign minister, Josep Borrell, to a request from the European Parliament.

Commission spokesman Eric Mamer did not want to say exactly what is planned. Borrell's Thursday written response to a request from left-wing MP Emmanuel Maurel states that US sanctions against actions allowed under EU law are unacceptable and a violation of international law.

There is a very open dialogue about this with the US government and Congress. In addition, "the Commission is preparing to adopt a reinforced sanctioning mechanism that will improve Europe's resilience to the effects of extra-territorial sanctions imposed by third countries,"

the document said. Nothing more can be said about that, said spokesman Mamer. "When we say we are working on a proposal, thinking and working on it is still in the process of becoming." Patience is required until the commission is ready to publish the details.

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