How US tariffs target Trump’s base in Republican states
Customs officers around the world, especially in the US, are increasingly uncertain about how to proceed, as the list and percentages of tariffs announced from Washington sometimes change literally from hour to hour.
The fact is, Donald Trump has somewhat backtracked, postponing the implementation of his tariffs by 90 days for over 75 countries that agreed to negotiate—except for China.
On Wednesday, April 9, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% while opening a negotiation period with other US trading partners. European banks welcomed “the beginning of a return to economic reason,” but on the same day, April 9, the EU published a list of no less than 98 pages of American products that will face increased tariffs in the EU.
This first wave of tariffs is set at 25% and applies to American products such as almonds, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel, aluminum, and tobacco. Additional products like jeans and motorcycles will face further taxes starting April 15, followed by other tariffs a month later if a negotiated solution is not reached.
The US in two colors and what "red states" are: the most taxed by the EU
Looking at a map of the 50 US states, we can see that European taxes mainly hit the so-called "red states"—those that vote predominantly for Republicans and Trump. Red is the color these Republican voters associate with themselves, and it is enough to think of Trump’s red cap with "Make America Great Again."
In the United States, the electorate is divided by colors and simple symbols—the elephant represents Republicans, members of the GOP (Grand Old Party), while the donkey (or rather, mule) is the symbol of Democrats.
As for the colors, they are the opposite of what we would expect: red is the color of the Republicans, although Europeans would likely associate it with Democrats, who are considered left-wing, while blue is the color of Democrats. In Europe, blue is associated with "liberal" parties, but these European liberals are more right-wing rather than "left-wing."
Thus, EU tariffs disproportionately affect "red" Republican states: for example, exports of soybeans from Louisiana (with the US being the second-largest soybean exporter in the world), as well as poultry from Louisiana. This is not accidental, as the spokesperson of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, is a Republican representative from Louisiana, a red state.
Likewise, tobacco from Kentucky and Georgia, beef from Nebraska and Kansas, and other unexpected products, such as bras and women's lingerie from Ohio, are also taxed.
What the EU is trying to do by targeting these "red" Republican states is to undermine the economic base of Donald Trump’s support—working-class voters who typically don't travel abroad and who, in the past, overwhelmingly voted with Democrats. Now, these voters will see their productivity and finances impacted, causing them to question whether voting for Trump was the right decision.
However, some products were excluded from the European Commission's initial list, such as American whiskey (bourbon) and other alcoholic beverages, at the request of countries like France, to avoid even higher tariffs from Trump, after he threatened that including bourbon among the affected products would trigger counter-tariffs up to 200% on European alcohol.
Furthermore, US tech giants known as GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) are temporarily excluded from sanctions, mainly due to the insistence of Ireland, where many of these US companies are based, taking advantage of the favorable tax regime there, with Apple even assembling some products directly in Ireland.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
