No, if VAT goes down, other taxes have to go up to balance the government's budget. Besides, businesses don't pay VAT on purchases, they only pay for the part they (re)sell at a higher price (e.g. after augmenting the product or combining it with other products/services).
But this is kind of off topic anyway, just wanted to explain that your assumptions are wrong.
Cheers,
Bart
My assumptions are not wrong and goes to the heart of Trump's argument that he made during the campaign and currrently. That trade deals were not negotiated to be fair to America. Previous administrations were stupid and gave away the farm.
When Europe adds 35% to the cost of our exports to the EU, it makes our goods less competitive with similar European goods sold there. We lose sales and jobs. The opposite does not happen with your exports. Yours do not go up in price so you're able to sell your products easier here putting Americans out of work. Of course I expect Europe to oppose this because right now you have an advantage over us.
The fact that if you eliminate those import duties and have to raise taxes elsewhere is not our concern. We pay for things with higher personal and other corporate taxes because we don't tax your exports to us. So hopefully, Trump will push Europe to reduce import taxes or he will penalize your exports by matching the duties you charge. The latter might be bad for trade. But either way, we'll be playing on an even playing field, something past administration had no clue about. But make no mistake, Trump intends to make trade fair to America. Frankly it's the way Republicans can assure winning in 2018, as well. Of course Democrats will oppose him knowing that if his ideas are enacted, jobs will increase which makes Republicans stronger. So Democrats will put politics first before helping the American worker by castigating Trump. I hope Congress can see through this and help Trump and effectively the American worker and companies.
