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Tweets of the Week: US Trade War, Italian Election, and Women’s Day

By Evan Lamos, Jennifer Baker and Tess Vrbin | EURACTIV.com

09-03-2018 (updated: 04-06-2018 )

This week, potential trade war with US is brewing, Italy’s election results make for interesting viewing, and International Women’s Day shows women’s rights are accruing.

After US Presidential toddler Donald Trump announced plans to slap global tariffs on steel and aluminium, the EU responded with its own proposal: 25 percent tariffs on around $3.5 billion of imports from the US.

Specific products include Harley Davidson motorcycles, Kentucky bourbon and Levi’s jeans. Karthik Sankaran‏ noted it was all the ingredients of a male mid-life crisis.

Or maybe the EU just wants to ban Bruce Springsteen, suggested Jeremy Cook.

Theresa May warned Trump not to start a trade war.

But she’s in no position to take the moral high ground, said Diane James, because the EU operates almost 13,000 tariffs.

Trump said trade wars are “good and easy to win.” Donald Tusk retorted they “are bad and easy to lose.”

And Jean-Claude Juncker thought it was all incredibly stupid…

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, doesn’t buy Trump’s “national security” explantion calling it “economic protectionism in disguise.”

But she can troll with the best of them – she wore a biker jacket for the Harley Davidson tariff announcement.

Someone – Wrangler – is making the most of the news of potential EU tariffs on Levi’s jeans said Berlaymonster.

And City A.M. came up with this gem of a headline: Hit the Chevy with a Levy, tax your whiskey and rye.

Earlier this week, Italy’s election ended with the 5-Star movement narrowly losing to the centre-right coalition led by former Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

No party won a majority, but the real winner was populism, according to The Economist.

The results prompted the hashtag #ItalyIsOver from some distressed Italians.

Calvin Casino said it was like Brexit and Trump all over again.

And while a rumour circulated that Italy was the latest country to have Russia meddle in its election, Sam Knight suggested that the new Italian PM would be the nefarious Nintendo character Wario.

Finally, Thursday was International Women’s Day and, much like Valentine’s Day, every marketer on the planet saw it as an opportunity to hawk their wares.

Spoof account Martini Seltzermayr tweeted: Stand by for a dreary day of 28 Commissioners separately straining to show some tenuous link between their portfolio and International Women’s Day.

However it was good timing for the appointment of Catherine de Bolle as head of Europol.

Apparently NATO also has more women in leadership than ever before.

The marvellous Brussels Binders were out and about promoting the project.

And a group of Irish citizens in Brussels are also hosting an event to support women’s abortion rights in Ireland.

Elsewhere however, Spanish train workers went on strike over inequality.

Theresa May accused Jeremy Corbyn of “mansplaining”… although many were quick to point out her hypocrisy!

And in Brussels, a female artist, Deborah de Robertis, was forcibly dragged from the stage at TEDxBrussels during a performance on censorship.

My irony meter just exploded said Sofie Verhalle.

On the other hand, Brussels also saw the first conviction under its 2014 sexism law.

A man who verbally abused a female police officer was fined €3,000.

This week we are supported by GSMA. Check out their tweets about how the mobile industry is ready to deliver on 5G and the gigabit society.

Join me again next week for more wisecracks and comebacks in the Brussels Bubble Twittersphere and send in your suggestions using the hashtag #EUTweets.

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