In February, Donald Trump claimed that the European Union was formed to “screw the US” through trade. The re-challenges of tariffs in the European Union and then the Trump administration has repeated its claims, including the existence of value-added tax (VAT) to ruin Americans at times. Of course, these are stupid claims (see For the interesting history of the European Union and For Scott Sumner’s VAT discussion. Brian Albrecht There is also a great discussion), but they are par for the course of Trump’s victim rhetoric. For the sake of argument, we shall consider the claims true. The European Union was formed to ruin the United States with trade. How successful was what you said?
Answer: Not that much.
In the New York Times David Brooks has works that contain data It explores the economies of the US and Europe. Citing data from the OECD, economist and political scientist Yascha Mounk, what he finds is that the United States is much wealthier than Europe, and their profits are not contracted over time.
“The so-called era of neoliberal globalism has not produced the American massacre that Trump imagines. According to political scientist Yashamaun in the 1990s and early 2000s, America and Europe were equally wealthy. Today, the American economy left other abundant economies in the dust. Italy is about $39,000.”
Mississippi’s average wage (US state with the lowest average wage) is higher than most EU countries.
The US also smokes Europe in other ways. The US has 1,873 companies worth more than $1 billion. It’s over 600 All Europe. The US now has 96 Unicorn Startupabout five times the European Union. According to the World Bankthe US is the premier destination for foreign (and domestic) investments. In 2023, the US had a net investment flow of $348.8 billion (dollars invested in countries invested abroad). In other words, investors wanted to invest in the US more than Americans would want to invest abroad. In contrast, the EU’s net investment flow was $379.5 billion. In other words, Europeans wanted to invest outside the EU rather than investing in the EU. When people want to form businesses, they come to America, not Europe.
You can continue.
Some may argue that there are certain intangible things that make Europe better than the US. Probably, but it doesn’t matter here. The argument I’m responding to is that Europe is ruining America with trade. If the European Union was formed to mess up America, they’re absolutely hashing it.
