Yeah didn't want to downplay USA's importance. They are still at least the second most important country for worldwide trade but some Americans still seem to think that they are by far the leader for ww trade and that's just not true. Losing trade with USA would hurt almost every country a lot. That's after all the reason why Trump is and can be such a bully.

But this will backfire to USA over the next decades if those following after Trump will keep this attitude. 

No one denies that the US is not an important market... But it's not an important market for many nations, no point trading with a nation that has tariffs when you can sell to another nation in higher volume without it.

Where the tariffs start to show value is domestic manufacturing, which again... Is irrelevant for the rest of the world, we aren't going to import American cars (Tesla) when South Korea is technologically equivalent (Kia) and China has caught up and will beat Tesla sales with BYD here which are vastly cheaper, tariffs are only going to accelerate that disparity, especially when they are retaliatory.

China has a surging middle class, India is showcasing it's surging middle class, those two combined are massive potential relatively new markets... Both are resource hungry, that's where we are going to continue to trade, invest and benefit economically while the USA only focuses on itself and starts to exclude everyone.

It's a good thing we never had many eggs in the US basket economically.

The point I was trying to make is you can't "just sell to another nation". Developing new markets to sell to takes time and might not exist all together for the product you are selling. If a company can sell their goods to another country, they are likely already attempting to do so. If they aren't its likely because there is not enough of a market in the country to economically feasible. Sure, China (greatly slowed), India, & Africa, all have growing markets but it will still take decades for them to be fully realized. The impact of not selling to Americans will be immediate. Resulting in less revenue and job loss for companies. 

Relatively, buying products or changing who your import from is easier. As I said before, you can build new factories in another country or buy from a competitor. Exception to this would be raw materials, as you can't just make more raw materials. Even then, not doing business with the US will greatly impact the global prices.

Comparatively, Australis is not a huge trading partner but the EU sells twice the amount of exports to the US as it does to China. Canada & Mexico need US markets for their economy. China sells more to the US then all of the EU. You say the US is not important market for "many nations", sure that can be true but it also true that the US is the world's largest importer.

Too much of the focus on tariffs come from the consumer side, but the bigger impact is on the seller "if" they lose market share.

I say "if", because I think most americans won't stop buying foreign products, they will just pay more for them. Broadly speaking, I don't think tariffs will bring back US manufacturing nor do I think it will spur many new companies.

Just to be clear, these tariffs are stupid and will hurt everyone. It's a lose-lose situations with the argument just being over who loses more. 

Thank you, dear Keir Starmer, for hosting this important meeting.

Two key messages:

First, we need a lasting peace in Ukraine.

But it can only be achieved through strength ↓

[image or embed]

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu) 2 March 2025 at 19:31

Second:

We need a massive surge in European Defence.

At Thursday’s European Council, I will present a plan to rearm Europe to our Member States.

Lasting security is build on strength.

[image or embed]

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu) 2 March 2025 at 19:31

"We will not recognize agreements like the Minsk ones," said Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "The UK has provided Ukraine with 5,000 air defense missiles on credit," he added after the London summit.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 2 March 2025 at 17:29

Expected outcomes include €40 billion in military aid from NATO for Ukraine, bilateral security guarantees from the UK and France, and the planning of a peacekeeping mission to ensure lasting peace in Europe.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 2 March 2025 at 14:41

🇺🇦 Zelensky: The London summit is about Ukraine and our shared European future. Strong unity and support for Ukraine are evident. We’re working together to ensure a solid foundation for cooperation with the U.S. on real peace and security. Discussing security guarantees and just peace with partners.

[image or embed]

— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 2 March 2025 at 21:33

🇺🇦🇬🇧 Zelensky met with King Charles III today.

[image or embed]

— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 2 March 2025 at 21:18

⚡️ NATO chief Mark Rutte: “Europe is stepping up.” At the London summit, key priorities are: more support for Ukraine, a lasting peace deal, and stronger NATO with increased European defense spending. Every country must do more now.

[image or embed]

— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 2 March 2025 at 19:34

⚡️ UK, along with France and possibly a few other countries, will work with Ukraine to stop the war. A coordinated peace plan will be presented to the US, says UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

www.reuters.com/world/europe...

[image or embed]

— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 2 March 2025 at 09:30

⚠️ Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis warns that NATO may be approaching its end, suggesting the potential rise of a new "Organization of the European Treaty" as a replacement.

"I think we're moving toward the final days of NATO," he stated.

[image or embed]

— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 2 March 2025 at 09:28

"This is a paradox, listen to how it sounds: 500 million Europeans ask 300 million Americans to protect them from 140 million Russians. If you know how to count, rely on yourself," Tusk emphasized. The Polish prime minister stressed that Europe currently suffers from a "deficit of imagination and courage." He pointed out that the European countries' army, together with Ukraine, consists of 2.6 million soldiers, while the U.S. has 1.3 million, China 2 million, and Russia 1.1 million.

"Europe has an advantage over everyone," Tusk stated. He added that the same applies to fighter jets: Europe, together with Ukraine, has 2,091, the U.S. has 1,456, China 1,409, and Russia 1,224. "Europe, together with Ukraine, has twice as many combat aircraft as Russia," the Polish prime minister emphasized.

He also noted that together with Ukraine, Europe has 14,400 artillery systems, while the U.S. has 5,000, China 9,500, and Russia 5,157. "There is nothing even to compare. As I said: the deficit lies in the inability to understand that Europe has the potential to be a great power," the Polish prime minister stressed.

He added that Europe must wake up and take the protection of the continent seriously. "Today, we all loudly declare: peace through strength. A strong and well-armed Europe that believes in its strength and is ready to defend its borders is a Europe that can guarantee peace not through Ukraine’s capitulation, but thanks to its own united strength," the Polish prime minister emphasized.

Poland stands with Ukraine, urges Europe to rely on itself ahead of London summit

I wish we could trade this relatively decent Donald for the shit Donald we're saddled with.

No one runs the world, but some countries definitely have more say in the matters of the world than others. The US is definitely among them, and apparently it has particularly much influence in Europe.

Except we (Australia) don't sell to Americans now for our main commodities.
We do import a lot of military contracts from the USA, most recently was boosted with the abandonment of the French submarine deal, but that can flip/flop and change if something of better value comes along.

80% of our resource commodities goes to China.
0.62% to the United States.

And this holds true for many other nations around the world. - Why trade with the USA when we can sell elsewhere?

We are making new markets by trading in the pacific and asian countries, Vietnam for example is a new Wine market for us and growing rapidly.
We have seen 25% increases in exports to india YoY for the last several decades.

As a nation, Australia is not reliant on the USA for trade or future trade and that's a good thing, many other nations are emulating the same by diversifying away from the USA, especially the UK/Europe.
UK for example has the European Bloc as it's largest trading partner and that will likely accelerate with Tariffs.

As much as it pains me this will only contribute more to global warming, Canada is also diversifying away from the USA.

https://www.china-briefing.com/news/opportunities-for-china-canada-trade-under-trumps-tariffs/

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-seeks-stronger-eu-trade-ties-both-regions-threatened-by-trump-tariffs-2025-02-08/

Canada's trade with both Europe and China is on the rise, with particularly significant growth in imports from China and exports to the European Union, largely driven by the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) which has facilitated increased trade between the regions.




We have / had 72.9% of our exports to the US in 2022, 71.4% in 2023, and 49.9% of our imports from the US in 2022, 51.4% in 2023.
UK was our biggest growth market (+144% growth) followed by India and The Netherlands, US on decline (-4.62%)
Japan our biggest import growth (+16.3%) followed by France and Germany, US on decline (-1.6%)


https://oec.world/en/profile/country/can?yearlyTradeFlowSelector=flow0&yearSelector1=2023


We are the biggest export market for the USA at 14.5% of the US' exports followed by Mexico at 13.1, China 8.3% (Germany 5.1%, UK 4.2%)
Mexico is the biggest import market for the USA at 15.2% of US' imports followed by China at 14.5%, Canada 13.6% (Germany 5.2%, Japan 4.8%)
The biggest growth market for the US is Germany (+9.29% exports, +7.89% imports)

So why piss off your biggest markets?

US' exports to Russia sits at 0.032%, Imports at 0.16%. (US' exports to Ukraine 0.14%, Imports 0.023%)

I guess Trump/Musk see that as a big opportunity to make money. Biggest growth potential to take advantage of now Ukraine doesn't want to be pillaged by the US.


Israel is US' biggest protectorate, yet trade US' exports to Israel is only 0.5% (Driven by Diamonds and Weapons)
and 0.26% of imports (Driven by Diamonds and Electronics)

Yet Netanyahu and Putin are Trump's biggest friends.

(And now I see why Germany is deep up Netanyahu's ass as well, playing ball with the USA, 4th biggest market for the US while US is the biggest export market for Germany 10.1%, 3rd biggest import market 6.9%, China 11.9% and Netherlands 7.0% preceding)