Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Green fantasies from Time’s Justin Worland.
How Europe’s Border Carbon Tax Plan Could Force the U.S. To Act on Climate Change
BY JUSTIN WORLAND MARCH 4, 2020
…
On Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the European Climate Law, which would bind the bloc to eliminate its climate footprint by 2050 and officially launched the policymaking process to enact a new tax on products from countries that aren’t working to reduce their emissions. Such a rule could leave U.S. companies at a serious—and costly—disadvantage as they compete for business in the EU.
…
The EU’s plan is a significant escalation, but it’s not a complete surprise. The intellectual foundations behind policy, which the EU has dubbed a border carbon tax, have been discussed in policy circles for years. As the EU has doubled down on policies to reduce emissions, and the U.S. and others have lagged, pressure mounted on the bloc to take more sweeping action. “It’s pointless to reduce carbon emissions inside Europe, to then import them from outside,” Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, told reporters at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in January.
…
Several groups in Washington are pushing for the U.S. to get ahead of the Europeans’ plan by implementing its own carbon tax, along with an adjustment at borders. Such a move would make U.S. businesses more competitive on the global stage as countries increasingly demand more energy-efficient products, advocates say. Supporters of such an approach include a conservative group, the Climate Leadership Council (CLC), which is backed by some of America’s biggest companies, green groups, economists and Republican elder statesmen. “This really creates an incentive for other countries to say, ‘yeah, I want to get inside that club,’” says former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who supports the CLC.
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Read more: https://time.com/5793918/european-union-border-carbon-tax/
The problem with Justin’s theory is the EU has no backbone when it comes to trade disputes. When President Obama rejected the EU’s last attempt to impose carbon taxes on US businesses, The EU’s response was to express their disappointment.
Brexit has left the EU desperately short of cash, but I doubt President Trump will let the EU fill their budget shortfall by slamming US businesses with a new carbon tax.
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I have been reliably informed that the said Ursula was,in a previous life the Defence Minister of Germany.Things were so bad under her tenure the Air Force couldn’t put airworthy combat craft in the sky.Think they had to rely old “Fokkers” to bail them out. Actually she had to jump. A career lite failure,with a large pension pot!
The US could just respond with a stupidity tax.
The EU is clearly stupid so their companies should be taxed at the US border.
The US could just respond with a stupidity tax. What ever the rate will be, as stupid they are, no chance to pay that sum 😀
There is already a stupid tax; It’s called the lottery!
Some basic things to understand:
The EU gets a good chunk of its revenues from customs tariffs, so it quite happy to raise them in part to plug the Brexit revenue gap.
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/facts-figures/customs-duties-mean-revenue_en
EU consumers will be less happy paying extra duties and finding some goods unobtainable. They may well rebel in the streets (see e.g. gilets jaunes and at the ballot boxes. This is by no means just about how the US might respond to a trade war.
It is highly doubtful whether there would be a legal basis under WTO rules for such a tax anyway. The US has been tending to undermine the WTO, but it may find reason to take a different tack on this.
The EU is about to do itself serious economic damage by pursuing green policy. That takes us back to EU consumers being unhappy again. It has the making of a self-destruct button for the EU as an institution.
The arrogant and imperialist US made the EU make damage to itself, and the EU did great damages (esp to France) with silly sanction against Russia, because Russia decided to slightly dismantle Ukraine after the US and EU decided to completely dismantle Yugoslavia, after a war that was encouraged by irresponsible promises made to Croatians (like the EU made irresponsible promises made of almost EU integration to Ukraine).
The stupidity and arrogance of anti Russia non military sanctions is unprecedented: preventing Russia from buying porc and fish? What kind of strategy was that?
The economic damages done, and done for good, to French farming, is terrible, and a big taboo in France, and a huuuuge taboo in US liberal circles.
All that enabled Russian fishers, Russian agriculture, Russian cheese makers (which now imitate French cheese), Russians everything, and very strongly empowered Putin. It’s was a huge gift, perhaps the Most Bigly Political Gift Evah.
The West is making as many gifts to Putin as it can.
The embodiment of US’ imperialism is the “sanctity of our elections” and “self ruling” BS (accepted by the allegedly fine mind of Judge Kavanaugh) and pro “Duty To Report Act” propaganda used to denigrate any foreign influence on US politics:
“It is fundamental to the definition of a national political community that foreign citizens do not have a constitutional right to participate in, and thus may be excluded from, activities of democratic self-governance.”
http://adam.curry.com/art/1560691029_atYKVyqA.html
What the hell is that supposed to mean? It’s either narrowly interpreted, and inherently the case (those not allowed to vote don’t have the right to have, duh), or interpreted in the most general way, as potentially a prohibition to have any immaterial influence on politics, and so is a fascistic attack on people’s God given rights to voice and promote their opinions.
Historically, for good or bad, the US has been promoting its “values” (though it unclear how many Americans could clearly explain these, even on “obvious” subjects like “freedom of the press”), and telling other countries what they should do. Even foreign aid isn’t “neutral”; simply bringing in “GMO food” (whatever that is) is perceived as US involvement in local food and agriculture politics.
The idea that somehow US influence abroad is entirely good and Russian or other influence is entirely bad is:
– silly
– irrelevant if true
– directly, absolutely, contradicted by those who promote it but also promote “consensus” and the swampy ill defined “international law” (in practice defined as the middle position of the UN members, most of which are either dictatorships, lawless places, filthy ungovernable places, sh*th0les or all of the above).
Any real anti imperialist American or non American would oppose that “Duty To Report Act” propaganda with passion.
I don’t see that happening, so I can only conclude that the anti imperialism, esp. of the Left, is a scam (like US elections laws and the FEC).
If I remember my US History correctly, we won the “war” against freedom (1770s
/1780s). Here we go again !!! But, this time we have Donald Trump in our corner. We can survive an economic war with the EU. Tariffs ??? the Donald is a master negotiator. Just ask N Korea and China. Over here we voters have a lot of sway with our votes and conservative politicos. So, bring it on, and don’t forget that showing up with a knife to a gun fight isn’t a good idea. Retired engineer, US Navy vet (1966-1969); HM, E5, USMC Corpsman. God bless the US of A. Anchors Aweigh, Semper Fi, Hoorah. Sic’em Donald.
Bruno Le Maire had no objection over low cost imports from China.
Bruno Le Maire did not try to provide at least moral support (as a French minister, Bruno Le Maire has little to no real world powers) to Trump’s “war” against China either.
Each of these facts, and many more, prove that Bruno is clown.