Aside from getting an ostensibly raw and lopsided tariff deal out of Trump—though far from finalised and terms and conditions could always change—using trade as foreign policy tool, a particularly blunt and inappropriate instrument as Trump as done in order to bypass more traditional channels, the EU’s capitulation has proved to be not only a disappointment among academics and the press but also leaders 
and is representing a split in solidarity in the already fractious bloc, with many regarding the submission as a concession to German industry at the expense of the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors. The onerous commitment riding on the deal to purchase over a trillion dollars in US energy and weapons is an assurance that Brussels can not compel members to do—so there’s that Ausfahrt, and moreover very little of these burgeoning conflicts address the consumers’ role in the opening of markets, who do indeed collectively punch their own weight—with the notable exception of Canada, also under threat of annexation. Flooded with cheaper, lower quality American goods, shoppers can still choose to boycott them and retailers will no longer stock them. Individuals can also forgo an albeit more entrenched and harder to avoid US dominance on financial and internet services—which for the American rentier economy—would send an even bigger message though a bit of inconvenience and creative work-arounds, refraining from using credit cards and payment clearing houses and American internet companies.
synchronoptica
one year ago: JD Vance’s sofa memoirs (with synchronopticรฆ), nobody reads ads, twirling towards freedom, a phoney controversy over the Olympics opening ceremony plus Friday Night Videos (1983)
twelve years ago: derivative blockbusters, stormy weather plus a visit to Gelnhausen
fifteen years ago: smoking ban in Bavaria plus word clouds as CVs
