Donald Trump on Monday, January 19 threatened 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne over France’s intentions to decline the US leader’s invitation to join his “board of peace.” The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of war-torn Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.
“I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes. And he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join,” Trump said, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron. A source close to Macron told AFP on Monday that France “does not intend to answer favorably” to the invitation.
The board’s charter “goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza,” the source close to the French president said.
I see this as a weird “creative destruction” moment. Since we are in the eye of the cyclone, surrounded by entropy, we feel at a loss. But the hurricane is creating new landscape. And once the dust settles, new alliances and alternatives will have emerged.
If we look at it from a unified landmass perspective, it might look like Asia/Europe teaming up VS crazy island. Even if that means compromises we aren’t too happy about. The alternative is being bullied by a never ending cycle of “renegotiations” and threats. Stability, even traded at a loss, offers some peace of mind. You know what you get at any given moment. And rules actually mean something.
I’m not rooting for unfavorable deals, nor compromising on ethics and sovereignty. Just saying that I prefer knowing I get a beating every Friday, rather than the random 1-3 a week. But then, I was never a gambler.
As a sidenote: I wish Europe shifts heavily to opensource and finances it with a portion of the software savings. We could become opensource champions.:)
All the best is yet to come and the world is big and varied. If the US decided to put a madman in charge, it’s their problem.