Tag Archives: Jean-Claude Junker

Trump Calls For EU To Drop All Trade Barriers Ahead Of Juncker Visit, by Tyler Durden

Posted on July 25, 2018 | Leave a comment

Is President Trump a closet free-trader? From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

With Jean-Claude Juncker probably in the air right now, flying to his White House meeting on Wednesday, President Trump threw a wrench in the prepared script when on Tuesday evening he appealed for a return to (truly) free trade and urged Europe to “drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies” shortly after his administration imposed tariffs on EU imports, and Europe retaliated.

“That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready – but they won’t!” Trump tweeted.

In reference to what promises to be a contentious meeting with Washington’s “foe” – as Trump called the EU in a recent interview, Trump greeted Tuesday morning with a key theme of his presidency:

“Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs… Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed…” and also “Countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate.”

Juncker told reporters last week he is “upbeat and relaxed”; however, one doesn’t need a crystal ball to know that things are likely not going to go well at the meeting, as Bloomberg reports that the European Commission President “won’t be coming to the White House with a ‘great deal’ on trade to counter Donald Trump’s recent criticism of the European Union and his claims it runs a $150b surplus with the U.S.,” according to an unnamed European official.

The last time the two met face to face, at the recent G7 summit in Quebec, the EU’s most senior official told fellow European leaders that Trump had called him a “brutal killer” — though possibly in the spirit of jesting, over what Trump identified as unfair EU trade policies and fines on American tech companies.

Last week Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Union trade commissioner who is accompanying Juncker on his trip, indicated he would attempt to persuade Trump against his threat of raising tariffs on European car imports, possibly wrecking a $1 trillion trade relationship which the EU says will be disastrous for both sides of the Atlantic, with 15 million jobs on the line.

To continue reading: Trump Calls For EU To Drop All Trade Barriers Ahead Of Juncker Visit

 

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Posted in Geopolitics, Governments, Horseshit, Politics, Trade

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Windbag Jean-Claude Juncker’s Pathetic Bluff Regarding Iran Sanctions, by Mike “Mish” Shedlock

Posted on May 19, 2018 | Leave a comment

Is Jean-Claude Junker’s threat to invoke a “blocking” statute to keep European companies from complying with US sanctions with Iran may be just hot air. From Mike “Mish” Shedlock at themaven.com:

EC president Jean-Claude Juncker says the EU will activate a ‘blocking statute’ to avoid Iran sanctions.

“As the European Commission we have the duty to protect European companies. We now need to act and this is why we are launching the process of to activate the ‘blocking statute’ from 1996. We will do that tomorrow morning at 1030,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.

“We also decided to allow the European Investment Bank to facilitate European companies’ investment in Iran. The Commission itself will maintain its cooperation will Iran,” Juncker told a news conference after a meeting of EU leaders.

Solidarity Busted Already

French President Emmanuel Macron ruled out on Thursday any trade war with the United States over its withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal as a wave of European companies quit business with Tehran, fearing the global reach of U.S. sanctions.

Macron acknowledged the predicament of firms wanting to trade with Iran or invest there, especially multinationals with close business ties to the United States. But he made clear bigger matters were at stake.

“We won’t start a strategic trade war against the U.S. about Iran,” he said on arriving for a second day of a European Union summit in Bulgaria. “We’re not going to take counter-sanctions against U.S. companies, it wouldn’t make sense.”

“All European Union member states are still backing this agreement, despite the fact the United States has decided not to, and we will continue talks with the United States,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at the EU summit.

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Posted in Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Governments

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Does “More Europe” Mean More Government? by Daniel Lacalle

Posted on September 29, 2017 | Leave a comment

Like governments everywhere, the government of the European Union has gotten bigger and more intrusive…very big, and very intrusive. From Daniel Lacalle at mises.org:

Imagine for a moment that you are a British citizen with doubts about Brexit. You turn on the television and listen to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, state the following:

  • That the 27 countries of the Union should adopt the euro and be in Schengen by 2019.
  • That “we are not naive defenders of free trade”.
  • That Europe needs a European superminister of Economy and Finance who is also Vice-President of the Commission and President of the Eurogroup.
  • That a European Monetary Fund should be created

Probably, at that moment, many doubts will dissipate. Unfortunately, for those who would like the UK to remain in the European Union, in the opposite direction of their wishes. You would probably think “thank God we are out”.

Juncker’s speech on September the 13th did not seek to find elements for an agreement with the United Kingdom, but to strengthen the current model of the Eurozone at all costs. It was presented as an opportunity to remind us all of his real project for the European Union, clearly based on the French interventionist economic and financial “dirigisme”, and very far from the UK, Finnish, Irish or Dutch open model of economic freedom.

That is the big problem. The message of “more Europe” is always oriented towards “more interventionism” .

A few weeks ago we questioned in this column the triumphant message of the European Commission affirming that “Europe has left the crisis thanks to the decisive action of the European Union“. With Juncker’s speech we can say that the slightest hint of taking advantage of Brexit to improve in freedom, flexibility and dynamism disappears.

Instead of reflecting on the reason why the hyper-regulated and massively intervened Europe has taken more than three times as other countries to emerge from the crisis, we are faced with the classic response of bureaucratic power.

According to Juncker and others’ in Brussels, one could think that if Europe grows less, creates less employment and comes out of the crisis later, it is not because of excessive bureaucracy, but because there is not enough.

To continue reading: Does “More Europe” Mean More Government?

 

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Posted in Economics, Economy, Government

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