Why Europe Opposes Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act

European leaders are united in their opposition to America’s Inflation Reduction Act. They warn that it could spark a trade war between the United States and European Union.

The act threatens “to destroy the equality of opportunity between our economies, the European and the American,” German Economics Minister Robert Habeck told journalists on October 19. At a joint press conference, Habeck and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire repeatedly referred to a possible “trade war.”

Losing business: The Inflation Reduction Act includes $369 billion in spending allegedly to help American industry combat climate change. This could shift green energy and technology business out of Europe.

• Businesses like Tesla, bmw and the Swedish start-up Northvolt have already announced investing more in the U.S. instead of Europe.

This adds to the economic woes created by Russia’s war on Ukraine, an energy crisis and inflation.

Europe’s solution?

“We need a Buy European Act like the Americans; we need to reserve [our subsidies] for our European manufacturers.”
—Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, on October 26 after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

Long-term trends: Losing the American market for so-called climate-friendly industry may force Europe to rethink its green agenda and revert to more economical old-fashioned industrial policies.

In the broader picture, Europeans see themselves more and more at odds with America no matter who sits in the White House.

• U.S. President Donald Trump prompted a similar reaction from Europe when he threatened to impose tariffs on European goods.

Prophecy says: Isaiah 23 speaks of a European and Chinese economic power bloc that excludes the U.S. from trade. As we noted in 2018: “For decades, Herbert W. Armstrong warned that trade wars would precede World War iii and the return of Christ. In 1968, he described how the beginning of World War iii would be ‘economic in nature. We have shown how God prophesied a virtual trade war will get underway against the United States and Britain ….’” Learn more: Read “Trade Wars Have Begun.”