Please don't take HN threads into nationalistic flamewar. It's not what this site is for.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Pretty sure China has a handful more than 330 million people.

Sure, but the Netherlands is not as interdependent with China as it is with the US. The point is that the US is not convincing the Netherlands that blocking China is a smart move (because it isn't), it's forcing it with threats.

Please don't take HN threads into nationalistic flamewar. It's not what this site is for.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> but NL is part of the EU so sit back, shut up, and play nice. ... And on the EU side we are making it happen slow and steady.

Oh well, you're very optimistic. I see a EU that keeps failing again and again at being anything more than a collection of countries, each sporting a national pride that is genuinely pathetic at this point. Last year the US told Europe that it would sanction EU companies that acted according to an international treaty that was signed both by Europe and the US (the Iran nuclear agreement). I didn't hear a voice coming from the EU. Let's be realistic, at this moment the EU is an embarrassing disaster. I am European and I wish the best for the Union, but we're not really going anywhere like this.

While you might not have heard of it the EU has actually been working very hard on the implemention of a parallel payment mechanism that will allow them to trade with Iran despite US banking sanctions.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-ramps-up-trade-system-with-i...

"Working very hard" is really giving them too much credit. The parallel payment system, INSTEX, has done almost nothing to actually facilitate trade with Iran.

The EU set up this system in order to say that they were doing something, but the practical consequences for trade have been approximately zero. That's why Iran decided to stop abiding by the terms of the nuclear agreement. European companies refuse to do business with Iran because of US sanctions, so the fact that the EU lifted its nuclear-related sanctions doesn't bring Iran any relief in reality.

Yes, I've heard of that. They closed 1 transaction with it, for a total, if I'm not mistaken, of a million dollars. It's a pathetic joke.

> EU that keeps failing again and again

Yes, that scares me a bit, we seem to be doing 3 steps forward, 1 step back. But looking at where we are now, on major and smaller things, we are definitely moving forward. I remember a 7-8 years ago major steps were made on the collaboration into issuing pensions for EU citizens that have worked in more than one EU country. This now has been resolved, and instead of needed X months to exchange data, now it's done (almost) seamelessly and someone (like me) that has worked in many countries, can get "one pension" from "one country" in weeks (instead if months/years). There is a lot of work, plenty of things to align.

If we see this just as an IT project, we need to align 26 different core systems, they have differences in their data dictionaries, diffent laws and regulatory frameworks. This is a nightmare project, and it is run by 26 Public Sectors :) Imagine getting THAT to work. But it is working. One problem at a time.

The problem is not "aligning the core systems". The problem is that each of those systems has its own independent government and tries to defend first and foremost its own interests against the other countries in the union. The fact that France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, etc. have their own foreign ministers, their own defense ministers (and armies) and so on is the issue. Or the fact that the US government can address its requests to a Dutch minister, or a French minister. Someone who can't reply "oh yes? Then we'll have that German or Irish industry stop importing from you. And forget about the participation of the whole EU army in any of your present and future aggressions around the world".