The news that Jaguar and Land Rover have halted shipments of high-end vehicles has struck fear into the greedy hearts of American trophy wives. Everyone else in the U.S. couldn’t care less about British luxury, as President Trump moves to reinvigorate America’s auto industry.
Jaguar May Be Done
Information overload is now working against the elite world order. Headlines about Ukraine’s Zelensky whining over Russian attacks when his own forces have already broken the infrastructure ceasefire a dozen times top the news. On an equal “news” footing is Trump’s so-called “trade war,” which takes up most of the mainstream media space. However, looking at any key aspects of the US/Europe/Russia situation reveals Donald Trump’s unbeatable hand. Take the Jaguar as a telling case.
Last year, the legendary automaker sold 95,000 cars and reaped £6.5 billion in revenue from sales in the United States. Twenty percent of Jaguar’s sales went to the US, so the company’s sales and revenue just crashed into a wall. Tata Motors Limited owns the Jaguar-Land Rover company, which Indian billionaire Natarajan Chandrasekaran runs. It’s significant to note that Tata Motors stocks have lost about 10% since Trump’s big tariff announcements (as of this writing). Add these losses to a 9% loss for Tata Steel, and a grim picture begins to take shape for Zyag—u—rrrrr, and the whole European economic ladder.
Consider this. Jaguar sells the most cars in the United States, but its second-biggest market is Germany. With all those VWs, BMWs, and Mercedes piled up outside dealerships in the U.S., what kind of competitive pricing (tariffs) will flow downstream from Trump’s big move to reestablish American industry and trade fairness? Yeah. Americans had just as soon drive high-end Cadillacs, Ford muscle cars, or Teslas as overpriced British or German Wunderautos. We may even drive Pontiac (1926-1997) GTOs again!
Europe May Be Done
European bank stocks lost 8% last week, and overall, European stocks were down more than 5%. In the UK, Keir Starmer and Co. are mulling over raising taxes again to fend off an utter collapse of the British economy. French President Emmanuel Macron is about to freeze US investments in France and is calling for a French-led “reindustrialisation of Europe.”
What if Trump is playing the long game? Where will the Europeans get the energy and raw materials to build anything from the spanking new industrial revolution? They’ve already declared some form of war on every nation that possesses the resources for industry. Russia tops the list, and with the United States backing away, the outlook for making anything more than cheese, wine, and cabbages seems bleak for EU entrepreneurs. In the long game, imagine the following, just food for thought.
Canada becomes a US state. Russia and the US build a pipeline and other two-way import/export streams between. Americans drive American cars, use American refrigerators, Tesla rockets, and Skylink internet, and maybe Russians drive Chevrolet Corvettes, Buicks, or Oldsmobiles to work at new factories from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. It may occur to the European leadership that the West (America) may meet the East (Russia/China), with Europe transformed into one great big banana republic. After all, the Bering Strait is only 55 miles wide. By the way, Trump getting Greenland will put Canada in a further bind. Take a look at Google Earth. Other scenarios. What’s best for a new multipolar world? And what if Trump plays the ultimate Ace in the hole – the NATO pullout card? A gripping fantasy (or prediction) isn’t it?
The Europeans simply have no cards at all. In the end, I suspect, the people of Europe will have to lower their expectations and tighten their belts. Buy those Peugeots and VWs for yourselves, and let Americans import Ladas if you wish. I feel bad for my friends here in Greece, since imported goods have replaced Greek-made products on shelves. And the leadership here is echoing a reindustrialisation that cannot power up. The situation echoes across the European continent. One good thing for Greeks is that olive oil prices should soar soon.
Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, he’s an author of the recent bestseller “Putin’s Praetorians” and other books
