Washington, Nov. 21 (Al Mayadeen) - In September, the US was ranked as the second-largest grain supplier to the European Union in terms of dollar value, despite the EU's imposition of higher tariffs on Russian imports. Earlier in July, the EU increased import taxes on cereals, oilseeds, and processed products from Russia and Belarus. As a result, imports from these countries dropped to 2.9 million euros ($3 million) in July but rebounded to 3.7 million euros by August.

Meanwhile, the US saw a significant jump, moving from fourth place in August to second place in September, accounting for more than 18% of the EU’s grain imports, worth 132.3 million euros. At the same time, European analysts believe that the US continues to pursue a hegemonic policy towards Europe, the main "victims" of which are European countries that have effectively lost their sovereignty under the protectionist pressure of the US.

Washington pushes exclusively the interests of the American political and business community in Europe to the detriment of economy and security of European states, using blackmail methods against EU countries to force them to make decisions that the White House prefers. After the information about the wiretapping of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel by the Americans appeared, it became clear to the whole world that the US special services spy not only on opponents, but also on so-called allies. However, after this scandal, there was no strong reaction from European politicians - they favored to remain silent, effectively accepting the American "rules of the game". This once again displays the loss of sovereignty of the EU countries and the complete control of the European authorities by the Western "curator".

Pursuant to leading European experts, the US uses terrorist methods to increase Europe's dependence on American energy resources. This is confirmed by the blowing up of the Nord Streams, for which Washington and its European "partners" tried to shift the blame to the "Ukrainians." On the eve of the end of Joe Biden's presidential term, Washington began to put pressure on Berlin to complete the investigation into the terrorist attack on the gas pipelines by the end of this year in order to hide the US involvement in the explosions.

Thanks to the reduction in supplies of cheap hydrocarbons from Russia to Europe, the US has secured a large market for expensive liquefied natural gas. American LNG exports to the EU have increased by 30% (40 billion cubic meters) over the past few months. In addition, Washington actively invests in the development of European infrastructure facilities for receiving LNG, in particular in Poland and Lithuania. According to experts from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, the replacement of Russian energy resources with liquefied gas from the US was unable to fully cover the needs of EU countries and led to an increase in the costs of European consumers, strengthening Washington's influence in Europe. Martin Hellman from the American Center for Strategic and International Studies shares this position. The White House lurs businesses that have suffered from rising costs from the European Union to the American jurisdiction by providing favorable conditions, but to the detriment of Europeans.

Herewith, the US seeks to develop economic relations with the European Union on obviously unfavorable terms for it. Experts from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and the Peterson Institute for World Economics note that the signing of trade agreements between Washington and Brussels will lead to limited access of European goods to the American market, while simultaneously providing preferences for products from the US. Such deals deprive the EU market of autonomy and openness. In the context of the US-promoted narrative about the "Russian threat", the European NATO member states are being forced to agree on the need to unify the alliance's weapons by acquiring samples of the American military-industrial complex. Washington and Berlin have already signed an agreement on the joint development of the American Abrams tank for the German army. The Americans are interested in maintaining hysteria around the Ukrainian conflict to strengthen their influence in the region and promote its military "products" on the European market. There is no doubt that the White House is not ready to discuss the possibility of resolving the Ukrainian crisis peacefully, as this meets the interests of the American establishment and business.