On the level: Supporting Buy EU against Buy Made in China or Buy USA would be great, but expensive and in some cases even impossible.
At the monitored meeting between Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and French President Emmanuel Macron, the strategy called "Buy EU" or the promotion of European products on the internal market was discussed. Replacing Chinese trinkets with domestic production would benefit the European person in all aspects, but they need to prepare their wallet for it.
Not only from Donald Trump's mouth, but in recent months, we have heard a number of criticisms directed at the European Union, portraying it as a world region in decline, drowning in problems. We have somewhat gotten used to thinking that Europeans are an insignificant, pacifist species doomed to live in submission under the robust world leaders, such as Trump, Xi Jinping, or Putin.
The same Europeans, in the middle of the last century, twice drowned the whole world in the blood of world wars and harshly controlled half of the world in their colonies. It seems a bit like something doesn't add up here.
Whose Pockets Will the Buy EU Fill?
The big trio would surely wish for weak and insignificant Europeans. Donald Trump, in particular, likely doesn't understand that the world isn't governed by what he declares. A better perspective on reality can be offered by numbers and charts.
The largest global economy is and will be the USA with its 30 trillion dollars of gross domestic product. Viewing through the lens of nationality, the Chinese follow the Americans with a significant gap at 19 trillion dollars GDP, and after another large gap is Germany with 5 trillion. Interestingly, the first two are also among the top three most populous countries, while Germany holds the 19th place in this statistic.
In business terms, however, the European Union stands before China with a GDP of 22 trillion dollars and, according to purchasing power parity, the EU is on par with the USA. Since the EU is a closely integrated economic zone, this perspective makes sense. In terms of money, Europeans are not completely out of the game yet. However, Trump doesn't like such competition and would prefer to have the upper hand.
He would also like Europeans to buy American weapons, which is why he is so persistently pushing for increasing the defense budgets of European countries to 5% of GDP (Czech Republic barely exceeds 2%).
As demonstrated by the example of the rocket growth of the Czech arms group CSG Michal Strnad, in times of poor security outlooks, the arms business offers opportunities to fill pockets with dollars. However, Trump is not the only one with pockets.
The next in line is France. It is the only country in the entire NATO that has complete capabilities in the manufacturing of military technologies, from tanks to missile systems and the most modern fighter jets, to a complete nuclear triad. When Trump is rude to us, let's not buy American, but "Buy European," says the French pocket, as well as the wallet of Czech arms manufacturers.
Adidas or Nike? BMW or Ford? Netflix or Britbox?
Americans are technologically ahead, and this doesn't just apply to F-35 fighter jets but also to much more mundane things. This is beautifully illustrated by a table from the Buy EU platform, which suggests replacing American products with European ones.
Choosing European Adidas over American Nike is not a problem. In the case of BMW and Ford, every motorist would know where the essence of automotive quality and brand prestige lies when comparing quality.
When we look at digital technologies that are shaping today's world, transitioning from WhatsApp, Google, or Netflix to Element, Qwant, or Britbox is something we don't really want to imagine.
Waving a magic wand to switch to an alternative to Netflix is not possible. The platform has its unique content. What floods our market and has nothing to do with technological advancement or unique cultural content is Chinese consumer goods. A T-shirt, children's toy, or other plastic product of Chinese (Vietnamese, Bangladeshi) origin could also be Buy EU.
Perhaps it will also be a bit more quality and more personal. However, it will cost at least five times as much as we're used to. European workers don't leave the production halls just for the New Year holiday, unlike many workers in China who are exploited. Looking into your own wardrobe, wouldn't a fivefold reduction solve its space problem? However, a fivefold reduction might not be welcomed happily in the shopping center.
Sources: author's text, commentary, BBC, IMF, X
