European governments and organizations continue migrating to US cloud services despite increasing risks and Trump's undermining of data privacy frameworks. The practice is justified through legal mechanisms and convenience, despite serious concerns about data sovereignty and business continuity. The author argues for immediate cessation of US cloud adoption and investment in European alternatives.
The Trump administration's proposal for 'reciprocal' tariffs based on perceived unfair trade practices, including the EU's VAT system, reflects a misunderstanding of how value-added taxes work. The real competitiveness issues stem from flaws in the US federal and state tax systems, particularly the problematic design of state sales taxes that create tax pyramiding.
Reports indicate that Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) have been removed, threatening the EU-US data transfer agreement's validity. The PCLOB's destabilization, combined with Trump's executive order to review Biden-era national security decisions, puts thousands of EU businesses using US cloud services in potential legal jeopardy. This development questions the independence of US oversight bodies and the stability of executive-order-based international agreements.