Jonty Bloom

1 week ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Jonty Bloom

Apparently, we should be grateful that US Vice President JD Vance thinks there is a “good chance” that a trade deal can be negotiated with the UK. But as for details, these are few and far between. But this has not stopped the right wing in the UK claiming that such a deal is essential to post-Brexit Britain and a reward for breaking away from the EU. But their problem is the maths. For them and for the UK, the numbers are just terrible.

1 week ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Jonty Bloom

There was a very short period of time this month, when the Brexiteers thought that, at last, they had found a Brexit benefit that they could crow about. My word they were happy. It was the fleeting moment when president Trump put 10% tariffs on the UK and 20% tariffs on the EU. During that week, the Brexit mob argued triumphantly that our being out of the EU meant we faced a lower tariff than would have been the case and that this vindicated our decision to leave the bloc once and for all.

2 weeks ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Jonty Bloom

The second that Trump surrendered, announcing that the worst of his tariffs would be paused for 90 days with the exception of those levied on China, the markets surged. Only a few hours before his announcement to reverse his policy, the president took to his own social media platform to inform his followers that, “This is a great time to buy” along with the stock market code for his own company’s shares. When he announced that the tariffs were being paused, markets surged.

2 weeks ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Jonty Bloom

It is hard to work out who the bigger moron is in America at the moment. Elon Musk called Peter Navarro, who is the man Trump has turned to for advice on his tariff trade policy, “truly a moron”. This came after his colleague in the dysfunctional and dangerous MAGA administration justified putting tariffs on the imported parts that Musk puts in his Tesla cars on the grounds that “he’s not a car manufacturer.

3 weeks ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Jonty Bloom

Late on Wednesday – or “Independence Day” as president Trump cynically called it – the US imposed tariffs on the whole world. The tariffs include a 10% tariff on everyone, even if they import more from America than they export, and then some additional, “reciprocal” rates. These were arrived at by taking the country’s trade deficit with the USA, halving the total and making that the percentage tariff. This assumes that a trade deficit is caused by unfair practices, which is nonsense.