President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to add the 27 countries that make up the European Union to the list of trade partners he'll place tariffs on — unless the group takes steps to import more U.S. goods.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday added the 27 countries that make up the European Union to the list of trade partners he’s threatening with tariffs — unless the group takes steps to import more U.S. goods.

“I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas,” Trump posted shortly after 1 a.m. on social media. “Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!”

  • @orclevEnglish
    2•12 hours ago

    So, not to detract from your overall point, but apparently there’s functionally no difference between soda sweetened with sugar and corn syrup. The reason why is after a month or so of sitting on the shelf the acidity of a carbonated drink has converted all the sucrose (table sugar) into a 50/50 mix of glucose and fructose. Corn syrup is a 45/55 mix of glucose and fructose.

    So while a corn syrup sweetened coke would have ~5% more fructose than one sweetened by sugar, the difference is so minuscule as to be effectively identical. In other contexts (such as in baked goods, candies, or non-carbonated drinks) there is a difference between using sugar and corn syrup, it’s just in the specific case of carbonated drinks that it doesn’t matter.

    • @[email protected]English
      3•3 hours ago

      Other than, you know, taste. People can tell the difference in blind taste tests. And most people prefer the sugar sweetened version. It’s just that in the US the corn lobby will not give you the option to choose anything else.

      • @orclevEnglish
        0•1 hour ago

        You actually can’t taste a difference. The taste tests are between so called Mexican coke and US coke, but it’s not apples to apples. Mexican coke is a different formula which is why it tastes different, it’s not just corn syrup replaced with sugar. For instance Mexican coke has less than half the sodium of US coke. People prefer the Mexican formula, not the sugar.

        Edit: for comparison here’s the nutrition label of Mexican coke and US coke. Notice the sodium and carbohydrate quantities. The formulas are different, it’s like comparing Sprite and Sierra Mist, they’re a similar flavor but ultimately different.

        You can also just watch this: https://youtu.be/NY66qpMFOYo

        It explains all of this and debunks every possible argument for why sugar might be better than corn syrup in soda.

      • @orclevEnglish
        2•2 hours ago

        I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make. None of this is based on anything claimed by the corn industry but rather on a series of studies that were done (technically one paper followed by a paper by a different group refuting that paper due to it overlooking an important detail).

        For a pretty good explanation of all of this check this video out: https://youtu.be/NY66qpMFOYo