Miguel Ángel González-Simón

WTF is happening in Germany?! Germany announced 125,000 industrial job cuts in 6 weeks. Putting that into perspective... If the U.S. got hit at the same rate, that’s like ~300,000 factory jobs or ~500,000 total jobs gone in a month and a half. Picture every factory worker in a state like South Carolina unemployed. That’s the scale. Recent layoffs announced in Germany: Auto & Auto Supplier Layoffs (past 12 months): • Volkswagen: 35,000 • Mercedes-Benz: 40,000 • Audi: 7,500 • Ford (Saarlouis): 2,900 • Daimler Truck: 5,000 • ZF Group: 14,000 • Bosch, Continental, Schaeffler (combined): 7,000 → Total: 111,400 auto jobs impacted Steel & Heavy Industry Layoffs: • Thyssenkrupp: 11,000 (≈40% of workforce) Rail & Transport Layoffs: • Deutsche Bahn: 30,000 • DB Cargo (subsidiary): 5,000 Postal & Logistics Layoffs: • Deutsche Post: 8,000 Banking & Finance Layoffs: • Commerzbank: 3,900 Tech (Germany-specific cuts) Layoffs: • SAP: 3,500 (10,000 global) MAJOR implications globally from all of this - so don't brush it off as just German layoffs... And no one’s talking about it.

There is a a reason Europe is treated as the bench warmer in the minor leagues. A few years back Europe (I believe it was the EC who wrote the stufy but I would have to check) did arguably the most comprehensive study in recent history of Chinese subsidies. It was incredibly detailed. Incredibly thorough. It arrived as some pretty shocking conclusions about just how much China was subsidizing firms and the resulting price difference. Now when trade partners write a report saying you are subsidizing take it with at least a grain of salt and yes some of the "subsidies" were questionable but most were actual subsidies and very well documented. Mind you this is Europe who is scared of its own shadow on China. So what has Europe done with this detailed comprehensive report on Chinese subsidies? Nothing. Not actually nothing but just barely above nothing. They've spent more time complaining about Trump than China. If Europe ever wants to be taken seriously you need to actually DO something on the problem