Tariffs, Disinformation and Chaos: what's next for Europe?

'It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction.' Philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt work 'On bullshit' feels particularly relevant after yesterday's so-called 'Liberation day' in Washington.

The US President announced yesterday a flat 10% import tariff for everyone, plus specific ones for worst offenders. The list of such offenders was present, showing numbers of 'reciprocal tariffs' against the other countries, including 20% for the EU. The fact that these numbers mean very little and are certainly not within of any definition of reciprocal tariffs is, evidently, something that was not of concern for the President. Neither was the fact that the EU deficit in service trade makes the overall count almost balanced between the two blocks. In his book, Frankfurt carries on to explain that the key of bullshit is that the one using it is not concerned with the truth of their statement, is not consciously lying or telling the truth. The bullshiter is not constrained by reality at any point. The European Union has written a great deal about disinformation. Generally it has been approached as an external threat, i.e. threatening traditional media or even national sovereignty, fuelled by social media eco-chambers. The US government is now however actively contributing to it, and it has been for a while.

In the short run, a retaliation is almost unavoidable. Trump has already announced that such a move will be met with further escalation. This will bring economic trouble and inflation for most, and it remains to be seen if it will have any positive effect on industrial employment in the US. The EU, beyond tariffs, must ensure protection for workers and jobs at home, cushioning the initial impacts not just of the tariffs, but also of the degree of uncertainty caused by their arbitrariness. The running deficit of trade with the EU that Trump has noted as part of the 'plundering, raping and pillaging' of the US might have meant good money for some businesses in Europe focused on exports. But it also has hidden the collapse of internal demand after the 2008 crisis and the weakened economy that resulted from it.

Long-term adaptation necessarily means autonomy, as we find ourselves sandwiched between a US unwilling to uphold the order it created and a Russia whose imperial ambitions include parts of the EU. It means reactivating our internal demand and ensuring wealth is redistributed and used effectively. It means also protecting our key industries and sectors, diversifying energy sources, tackling the cost of living crisis, reforming the EU to make its decision-making effective. A strong and resilient society is the only thing that can prevent more trumps to sprout across the continent too. And social partners are a key piece of such society. One of the sworn enemies of the Musk-Trump duo is Trade Unions. There's a good reason why.

Lucie Studničná commented on the issue:

'With the tariffs, as with other policies, we are witnessing the consequences of a state-sponsored disinformation machine, which enacts and enforces policies based on parallel realities, on alternative facts, with a complete disregard from truth. Chaos is underway. But chaos is also an opportunity. One for us to shake a system based on speculative finance and stakeholder profits that disregards the real economy, a system of indecent wages and high structural unemployment, a system where most of the working class, despite living in some of the nominally richest countries in the world, can barely make ends meet.'