Courtesy of Mish.
My fears of a collapse in global trade, the likes of which we have not seen since the Great Depression are coming closer and closer to reality.
Shades of Great Depression and Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
#brexit Great Depression Trade Madness Cometh Againhttps://t.co/OiJzBajgYp pic.twitter.com/hmfTcTz3WR
— Mike Mish Shedlock (@MishGEA) November 13, 2016
Sarkozy Proposes Carbon Tax on US, Anti-Dumping Tax, Buy-EU Act
In a world gone mad, former French President and current French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy says France, EU Must Respond in Kind to Trump Moves.
“Europe can no longer be weak, Europe can no longer be naive. We can’t let our industry go,” Sarkozy, the French president from 2007 to 2012 who’s looking to get back into office, said Sunday in an interview with the TF1 television station.
Europe must set up a “Buy Act” that would require foreign companies seeking public contracts to set operations in European countries, Sarkozy said.
Should Trump stick to his electoral promise of exiting the U.S. from the Paris Accord to curb carbon emissions, Europe should set up a carbon tax for U.S. products, Sarkozy also said.
The former French president also called for an anti-dumping tax in Europe. “I believe in trade but I want that, in this world, Europe rearms and defends itself.”
Collapse in Global Trade Agreements
Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is dead. Obama’s Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is also dead on arrival.
Neither of those agreements is realistically about free trade. Both contain inane provisions allowing corporations to sue governments. And TPP is mired in global warming muck.
Yet, the collapse of the agreements culminates a long period of dwindling deals of any kind.
