A Trade War?

The EU has decided it would be a good idea to start slapping the US with trade sanctions for violations of the WTO rules. In the spirit of generosity they're starting only at $200 million, even though the WTO has said they are entitled to $4 billion in sanctions. If we don't change our ways they have threatened to raise the sanctions by $40 million a month until we come in to compliance with their wishes.

In the universe of stupid moves, this comes pretty close to being one of the top ones. The world is tottering on the brink of a global recession and we're going to threaten to raise protectionist tariffs in a quest to make trade more fair - by stopping it for everyone. Having everything of nothing is still nothing. It would be a lesson the WTO/EU crowd would be well advised to learn.

If the EU carries through on this threat, I see it as being but the first shot in a much wider trade war. What the WTO imperialists need to remember is that without the WTO, the US still has clout in the world, but without the US, the WTO is nothing more than a trade version of the League of Nations, doomed to irrelevance and failure.

Hopefully the eurocrats are figuring out how they're going to get themselves out of this rhetorical corner while saving face. Otherwise the blood of a vicious trade war and the resulting recession/depression will be on their stubborn hands.

The United States is a sovereign nation. We have not been a colony of any European nation since 1776 and they will not use the WTO to impose a new form of taxation without representation. We've fought that Revolution once. We'll fight it again, if necessary.