Trump meets EU chief in push to clinch trade deal – DW – 07/27/2025
US President Donald Trump is meeting with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland on Sunday, as Brussels seeks to finalize a trade agreement with Washington before the August 1 deadline.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump gave "a good 50-50 chance" on Friday for a deal with the European Union to be reached.
Von der Leyen has been pushing hard for a trade pact that would see the bloc avoid the 30% tariffs that Trump has threatened on all goods from the EU.
Most EU goods already face a 10% tariff, with levies of 25% on cars and car parts and 50% on steel and aluminum.
On Sunday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the August 1 deadline was firm.
"No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set, they'll go into place, Customs will start collecting the money and off we go," Lutnick told the US broadcaster Fox News.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
According to an EU diplomat briefed ahead of the meeting, set for 4:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), key issues still need to be hammered out.
"A political deal is on the table — but it needs the sign-off from Trump, who wants to negotiate this down to the very last moment," the diplomat told AFP.
European negotiators are aiming for a baseline levy of around 15 percent on EU exports to the US — the level secured by Japan.
Any deal will need to be approved by all member states. EU ambassadors, on a visit to Greenland, were updated on the negotiations by the Commission on Sunday morning, and would meet again after any agreement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Stocks Slide As Trump's New Tariff Sweep Offsets Earnings
Stock markets slid but the dollar held up Friday as US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on dozens of trading partners, offsetting strong earnings from tech giants. With hours to go before Trump's August 1 deadline for governments to make toll-averting deals, the president unveiled a list of sweeping levies. Shares in European pharmaceutical firms meanwhile slumped following the president's threat to punish them if they did not lower prices for medicines in the United States. "Tariffs are the main theme sucking risk sentiment from financial markets," noted Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group. "The other market-moving event today will be US payrolls (jobs) data. "Analysts have been fairly downbeat on this report, which could puncture the narrative that the US economy is resilient in the face of tariff threats," she added. Governments around the world have been scrambling to cut agreements with the White House since Trump unveiled his bombshell "Liberation Day" tariffs on April 2. He has delayed implementation of the tariffs several times -- the latest move pushing them back by a week to August 7. Some countries have reached deals with the United States -- including Japan, the European Union, Britain and South Korea. China remains in talks with Washington to extend a fragile truce in place since May. For those in the crosshairs of the latest outburst, tariff rates range from 10 percent to 41 percent. Trump unveiled new levies Thursday on nearly 70 countries -- including a blistering 35-percent rate on Canada -- as he seeks to reshape global trade to benefit the US economy. The Swiss government on Friday said it would negotiate with the United States to try to avoid the 39-percent tariff that would ravage its key pharmaceutical industry. The Swiss franc retreated around half a percent against the dollar Friday. Tariffs uncertainty overshadowed earnings from major tech titans this week that saw Apple on Thursday post double-digit quarterly revenue growth that beat expectations. Amazon said quarterly profits jumped 35 percent as key major investments in AI technology paid off, though its outlook for the next three months disappointed. Google, Microsoft and Meta have also posted bumper results in recent days. London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 9,075.39 points Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 2.2 percent at 7,602.50 Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.8 percent at 23,632.38 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 40,799.60 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 24,507.81 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,559.95 (close) New York - Dow: DOWN 0.7 percent at 44,130.98 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1414 from $1.1421 on Thursday Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3164 from $1.3208 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 150.35 yen from 150.68 yen West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $68.84 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $71.31
DW
2 hours ago
- DW
Berlin-Hamburg: Deutsche Bahn closes Germany's top route – DW – 07/31/2025
Germany's rail operator is shutting down its main train line for nine months, as part of an overhaul scheduled to last at least until 2036. Costs are spiraling and criticism of the planning and implementation is growing. Starting August 1, Deutsche Bahn's 280-kilometer (174-mile) route linking Berlin to Hamburg will be completely closed for at least nine months. With up to 30,000 passengers daily, it is the most heavily used direct connection in Germany's long-distance rail transport. Around 230 regional, long-distance and freight trains travel daily on the tracks between Germany's two largest cities. Starting Friday, the intercity passenger trains will have to take a 100-kilometer detour, while freight trains will be rerouted even further. In addition, 170 buses will be deployed daily to continue connecting the towns between Berlin and Hamburg that will be cut off from rail service. Both the construction work and the replacement transport will be complex and potentially prone to disruption. On Thursday, Deutsche Bahn reported a loss of €760 million for the first half of the year. The company billed this as progress, as losses had been reduced by almost €1 billion compared to the previous year. "Deutsche Bahn is facing its biggest crisis in 30 years," CEO Richard Lutz admitted in May. "We cannot ensure stable operations on a fault-prone and outdated infrastructure." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Germany's national rail network covers around 33,500 kilometers (20,800 miles) of tracks. As a state-owned company, the operator Deutsche Bahn is dependent on subsidies from the federal government, which critics say has invested far too little in infrastructure over the last few decades. In fact, some tracks, junctures and even signal boxes date back to the 19th century. Many systems are completely worn out, almost beyond repair, and now so outdated that they are unusable for digitally controlled rail operations, which are to become standard. There is no way around completely rebuilding them. The "general renovation" project began in 2024, with a focus on 41 main lines, which have a combined length of 4,200 kilometers and are essential for the operation. The 70-kilometer line between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim was the first to be revamped. It was completely closed for six months as tracks and overhead lines were torn out and reinstalled. The 20 stations along the route, the signaling technology and the sound insulation were also renewed. However, installation of digital technology turned out to be more complicated than expected. Construction costs rose to more than €1.5 billion ($1.73 billion) — twice as much as anticipated. The Federal Audit Office, which monitors the government's budget management, subsequently accused the Federal Transport Ministry of negligence, arguing that Deutsche Bahn should have been required to prove the economic viability of its actions. Further renovation funds should only be made available once the Transport Ministry has "proven beyond doubt that they were necessary and economical," the office said. This led Deutsche Bahn to announce that the general renovation would be extended by six years until 2036. The company has now significantly scaled back its original construction plans. The number of new passing tracks and switches — which ensure that fast trains can overtake slow ones — has been reduced. The installation of the European Train Control System (ETCS) has been postponed until the next decade. The government has pledged additional funds to renovate the rail network, with Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder promising rail infrastructure investments totaling €107 billion by 2029. Most of the money is to come from the debt-financed special fund for infrastructure and climate protection launched at the beginning of the year. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Currently, only 62% of German trains are considered to be on time — that is, those that arrive within six minutes of their scheduled time. Canceled trains are just as common as trains that don't reach their final destination. When there's a strike, or outside temperatures are very high or very low, there are even more problems. Traveling by train in Germany requires a lot of time, a lot of patience and strong nerves. Delays of two to three hours are not uncommon. In 2024, Deutsche Bahn had to pay its passengers almost €200 million in compensation, almost €70 million more than the previous year. The Federal Audit Office has also issued a warning that money alone will not be able to solve the "ongoing crisis" at Deutsche Bahn, and has called for a complete overhaul of the entire company, including an "adjustment of the corporate structure." That would mean unbundling the corporation with its many hundreds of holdings and subsidiaries. For years, there has also been discussion about separating rail infrastructure from transport, to enable more private companies to enter competition on the railways. Currently, the auditors have little hope that the railway will soon recover. In its report in May, it concluded that Deutsche Bahn will not be able to meet "transport and climate policy expectations in the foreseeable future."While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
DW
3 hours ago
- DW
Stasi: How the GDR kept its citizens under surveillance – DW – 08/01/2025
Life as an intelligence service agent à la James Bond? Not for those who worked for the GDR's Ministry for State Security. A new book reveals the mundane lives of Stasi agents. "Comrades, we must know everything!" Erich Mielke's message was clear. As director of East Germany's Ministry for State Security (commonly known as the Stasi) from 1957 to 1989, he oversaw the systematic surveillance of its citizens. Stasi informants could potentially be found anywhere, even among colleagues or friends. Their task was to detect people labeled as "harmful" to society. In the eyes of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) regime, this included anyone who criticized the system and cooperated with the so-called "class enemy." This reasoning legitimized the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, which the GDR called the "anti-fascist protection barrier" against the "imperialist" or "fascist" capitalists in the West. To the GDR, the enemy was everywhere. For the Stasi secret police, which was founded in 1950, anything could arouse suspicion: From a joke about the Chairman of the State Council, to listening to non-conformist music, to receiving letters with stamps from the West, or asking for a visitor's permit to enter West Germany. As "the shield and sword of the party," the Stasi was in charge of maintaining the rule of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) by clamping down on any opposition. Stasi officials would spy on people by reading their mail, wiretapping their calls and entering their apartments illegally. They would intimidate people and spread rumors — that they were alcoholic, or gay, for instance — to discredit them. In an especially deceitful move, agents would sometimes even spread lies about someone working for the Stasi. Many GDR citizens were imprisoned after criticizing the regime. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Colloquially, the Stasi was known as "Die Firma" (The Company) or "Horch und Greif" (Listen and Nab). Around 90,000 people worked for the Stasi full-time, while 100,000-200,000 "informal collaborators" (depending on the source) worked as informants before November 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell. These unofficial informants would spy on their friends and family — either willingly, or because they themselves were put under pressure. But what made them work for the authoritarian regime? That depends, said historian Philipp Springer, whose book, "Die Hauptamtlichen" (Staffing the Stasi), was published this week in Germany. "One reason was to the feeling of having power over your fellow citizens," Springer explained of motivations for joining the Stasi. "And then there were the promises made by the ministry, which would claim that the job was interesting and might even allow for deployments abroad. At the end of the day, it was a very secure job to have — especially for people struggling with their career prospects." When researching his book, the author re-discovered rare photographs of Stasi officials at work from the Stasi Records Archive. As spies and informants, Stasi employees were usually behind the camera, not in front. Looking at the photos, the promise of an exciting life as a secret service agent quickly fades. "There might have been a few aspects of a James Bond life if you were deployed abroad and were involved in espionage," said Springer. "[But] if you weren't directly involved in espionage, then most of it was a lot less exciting that you might imagine." Which is also why the photos in the book seem somewhat dull and amateurish: A man standing at a copying machine, for instance, or another man sitting at his desk. A woman working in the kitchen, or sometimes, just a hand reaching for the index card box. "Of course, these are all pretty normal things to see and not really exciting," Springer reiterates. "But at the end of the day, all these Stasi employees helped to keep the state apparatus going. They were all part of the system and had been trained politically and ideologically … they were defending the socialist GDR against the West." The author tried to include the biographies of some subjects in the photos, including first lieutenant Elfi-Elke Martens, whose father had already worked for the Stasi — as did her husband. Described as "ready for duty" and praised as "diligent and devoted," she promised to try to stop a relative from traveling to the West. "My husband and I will speak to hear again, and should she not be ready to cancel her trip, we will cut all ties to her," Martens said. A corporal Sylke Kindler, also featured in the book, had proposed attaching a camera to the bottom of a shopping basket in order secretly take photos. Major general Horst Böhm was so loyal to the regime that he even committed suicide after the dissolution of the GDR. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "You often think: OK, they were just a tiny clog in this huge machine," Spinger said of GDR citizens who is now outing 35 years after the regime fell. "But at the end of the day … they chose to invest a lot of time and energy to work for this authoritarian regime. And so they must also face the fact that there are files about them." It was finally over for the GDR intelligence service following the fall of the Wall and German reunification. On January 15, 1990, thousands of demonstrators stormed the Stasi headquarters. Almost 15,000 bags of destroyed Stasi documents were discovered, but authorities were able to preserve more than 111 kilometers of files, 41 million index cards and over 1.7 million photos collected over decades. Many East Germans submitted applications to view their personal files. Some discovered that information had been gathered by friends and even family. Still today, there are many requests for files from former GDR citizens, says Springer. "In my opinion this matter should also be given greater attention on a political or national level, because injustice was committed here by an entire apparatus. It is important to keep the memory alive," he said. Future generations who "have a responsibility to safeguard our democratic system" need to understand what happened, he added. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
