Donald Trump has found that the economic power of ‘sanctions’ far outweighs anything else in foreign policy….
Some call it economic blackmail or extortion ….
Initially the Europeans where trying to keep the Obama nuclear deal intact with Iran….
Anything’Obama’ and Trump do NOT work….
And Trump demand’s ‘loyalty‘ above ANYTHING else….
Within days, the three countries would formally accuse Iran of violating the deal, triggering a recourse provision that could reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran and unravel the last remaining vestiges of the Obama-era agreement.
The U.S. effort to coerce European foreign policy through tariffs, a move one European official equated to “extortion,” represents a new level of hardball tactics with America’s oldest allies, underscoring the extraordinary tumult in the transatlantic relationship.
President Trump has previously used the threat of a 25 percent tariff on automobiles to win more favorable terms in America’s trade relationship with the Europeans, but not to dictate the continent’s foreign policy.
It remains unclear if the threat was even necessary as Europeans had been signaling their intention to trigger the dispute resolution for weeks. While the U.S. views the mechanism as critical to re-imposing sanctions on Iran in as quickly as 65 days, the Europeans see the measure as a last chance to salvage a deal they view as vital to reducing tensions and limiting Iran’s nuclear program.
“The tariff threat is a mafia-like tactic and it’s not how relations between allies typically work,” said Jeremy Shapiro, the research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
When asked about the tariff warning, a senior U.S. official said, “We’ve been very clear that the JCPOA was a horrible deal,” referring to the Iran nuclear deal….