Dutch summon Israeli ambassador, impose travel ban on ministers
AMSTERDAM - The Dutch government will summon Israel's ambassador to the Netherlands to denounce the "unbearable and indefensable" situation in Gaza and has imposed travel bans on two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers, it said in a letter published late on Monday.
Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich will no longer be allowed to enter the Netherlands, which accuses them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians and calling for an "ethnic cleansing" of the Gaza strip.
The Dutch decision follows similar moves last month by Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.
The government said it supported the EU's recommendation to curb Israeli access to its flagship research funding programme and said it would press for European trade sanctions if Israel was found to be in breach of its agreement with the European Union on increasing aid supplies. REUTERS
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
No clarity yet on baseline or pharmaceutical tariffs with US: DPM Gan
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said he has told US officials that Singapore would be keen to negotiate its baseline tariff rate if the opportunity arises. SINGAPORE – The US government did not negotiate its tariffs on Singapore and did not want to commit on whether the 10 per cent baseline tax could rise or fall in the future, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong. DPM Gan, who visited the US from July 20 to 26 , added that he did not get to further discussions on pharmaceutical tariffs being contemplated by the Trump administration. He told the SG60 IPS-SBF Conference on July 29 that these talks did not take place as he did not get the chance to meet Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. He did, however, meet other officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. They discussed ways to keep up the long and mutually beneficial bilateral economic relationship, as well as potential collaboration in areas like the digital economy. DPM Gan also met business leaders in New York, and congressional leaders handling trade issues in Washington. He also visited an ST Engineering aerostructures factory in Maryland. The US administration was 'not in the mood to discuss any discount to the baseline tariff', DPM Gan said at a dialogue moderated by Mr David Rennie, The Economist's geopolitics editor. 'We also wanted to know whether the baseline tariff will stay at 10 per cent or will it be higher or lower? The answer was non-committal. They are still reviewing the tariff and, in time to come, they will make the appropriate announcement. So we just have to wait and see.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Grace Fu apologises for Tanjong Katong sinkhole, says road may stay closed for a few more days Singapore Terrorism threat in Singapore remains high, driven by events like Israeli-Palestinian conflict: ISD Singapore Liquidators score victory to recoup over $900 million from alleged scammer Ng Yu Zhi's associates Singapore Man on trial for raping woman who hired him to repair lights in her flat Sport IOC president Kirsty Coventry a 'huge supporter' of Singapore Singapore 7, including child and firefighter, taken to hospital after fire breaks out in Toa Payoh flat Singapore S'pore can and must meaningfully apply tech like AI in a way that creates jobs for locals: PM Wong Singapore Doctor who forged certificates for aesthetic procedures gets 4 months' jail DPM Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, said he has told US officials that Singapore would be keen to negotiate its baseline tariff rate if the opportunity arises. Pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, which are key exports from Singapore to the US, are currently exempt from baseline tariffs. But US President Donald Trump had earlier in 2025 threatened to end an exemption for pharmaceutical imports, saying tariffs would be imposed 'at a level that you haven't really seen before'. The US is a major market for Singapore-based drugmakers including American multinationals like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. DPM Gan said official-level discussions between Singapore and the US Department of Commerce, which commenced before his trip, are still ongoing. 'I can't go into detail because negotiation is ongoing and there's a bit of a confidentiality we need to maintain on both sides,' he said when asked what the US was looking to secure through these talks. He added that the US generally had concerns about what the country experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, when supplies of critical pharmaceuticals were disrupted. 'They want to make sure that they have a secure supply line of pharmaceuticals. They do want to see whether they can onshore this production, so that they can produce (it) themselves. But they also know that it's not possible to onshore everything, because some of the raw materials are actually (from) outside of America,' he said. 'They do need to think about how they can work with partners, trusted partners, to make sure that their supply chain is secure and reliable. So that is what they are looking for in their partners, including Singapore,' he added. 'I think the administration's focus now is to finish the negotiation of reciprocal tariffs. Then it will start to engage countries on specific sectoral tariffs in pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.' DPM Gan said Singapore has yet to engage the US on the prospect of semiconductor tariffs . However, he added that discussions to preserve the country's access to artificial intelligence equipment and semiconductors are under way. Speaking at the same conference earlier in the day, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Singapore's trade and investment relationship with America, even with the tariffs, remains important. 'We would prefer to have zero tariffs of course, but if it is the baseline rate, then we are at the lowest category. We can live with it, and we can still do business and there will still be many opportunities for trade with the US, because whatever is happening in America now, the economy is still resilient, and there is still tremendous innovation happening in American companies, and so there will still be opportunities there,' he said. DPM Gan in his dialogue said the US economy continues to be relatively resilient. He said that based on the feedback from US businessmen he met on his trip, the outlook for the US economy seems cautiously optimistic, adding that Mr Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill , which includes tax cuts and business support measures, may have contributed to this. He said Singapore continues to have a good working relationship with the US. The US was Singapore's second-largest trading partner in 2024, while Singapore was its 16th-largest trading partner. Singapore was also the third-largest Asian investor in the US. More than 250 Singapore companies operate across 45 states, supporting around 350,000 jobs in the US, according to the Republic's Ministry of Trade and Industry. The US also has a longstanding trade surplus and free trade agreement with Singapore. The recent deals between the US and several countries, as well as the European Union economic bloc, are good news, DPM Gan said. 'This gives us a sense that there's good progress in the tariff negotiation. But I also come back with the sense that there remains significant uncertainty. I'm not sure whether the uncertainty has really been eliminated or even reduced,' he added. He cited the lack of clarity on the rules of origin that will be used to determine where products originate from. He also said it is unclear how reciprocal tariffs will be implemented, and how components from different countries and transshipped goods will be assessed. This comes on top of the uncertainty around sectoral tariffs, which are yet to be determined. There is also uncertainty about whether the investments that countries have pledged to the US under tariff deals are new contributions, or money that is currently invested in another country, DPM Gan said. 'For example, the EU has committed to make an investment... over a period of time. Japan has also committed investments into the US. Japan has been a major investor in Singapore. Whether the Japanese investment in Singapore will be diverted to the US is a question that is yet to be seen,' he said. 'There are (also) uncertainties as to how countries will respond to the outcome of the tariff negotiation. Some countries have also committed to purchase more from the US, and they would have been purchasing these products from other countries. Whether now, instead of purchasing from country A, country B, they will now purchase from the US, and therefore exports from these countries to affected countries will be changed,' he added. 'I think these uncertainties (are) second derivative uncertainties. No one is paying much attention yet, because we need to have a tariff settled, then we work out how the secondary impact would be.' Global supply chains will also be restructured if countries move their investments from destinations facing higher US tariffs to those facing lower tariffs, he added. 'The overall global trading system, what we call the rules-based multilateral trading system, that we depend on rules, respecting trade agreements with one another, and not change at will, is something that has been challenged,' DPM Gan said. 'Today, we can agree with one another on a certain tariff, but tomorrow, something happens. We start to change our tariff rate, and that is something that is very uncertain, and that has been seen over the last few months.'
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Trump eyes Aug 1 trade deals as EU, China talks continue, US Commerce chief says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, walk on the tarmac at Morristown Airport, in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump will make his trade deal decisions this week even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue, U.S. Commerce chief Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday ahead of Trump's self-imposed Aug. 1 deadline. U.S. and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminum tariffs as well as digital services regulations following their framework announced on Sunday, Lutnick told CNBC in an interview, adding that talks with China were also "their own thing". "But for the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," he said in the interview. Asked about remaining uncertainties surrounding the U.S.-EU agreement, Lutnick said Trump was working "to get things done now." He said pharmaceuticals were a key part of the EU deal so that medicines made in European countries—home to several major drugmakers—would see their products included in the 15% tariff. "It was important for them to have pharmaceuticals be part of the deal at 15% because President Trump is going to come out in the next two weeks with his pharmaceutical policy, and it is going to be higher," he said. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
France brands Israeli settler violence ‘terrorism'
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox PARIS - France condemned on July 29 , the 'murder' in the West Bank of a Palestinian activist who contributed to an Oscar-winning documentary, describing Israeli settler violence as 'terrorism'. Palestinian authorities said Israeli settlers killed Mr Awdah Muhammad Hathaleen, a teacher, on July 28 . The Israeli police said it was investigating but did not directly comment on the claim that he was killed by settlers. 'France condemns this murder with the utmost firmness as well as all deliberate acts of violence committed by extremist settlers against the Palestinian population, which are multiplying across the West Bank,' a foreign ministry spokesman said. 'These acts of violence are acts of terrorism.' The spokesman urged Israeli authorities to 'immediately sanction the perpetrators of these acts of violence, which continue with complete impunity, and protect Palestinian civilians'. The Palestinian authority's education ministry accused Israeli settlers of killing Mr Hathaleen 'during their attack on the village of Umm al-Khair' near Hebron, in the south of the occupied territory. The Israeli police said it was investigating an 'incident near Carmel', a settlement neighbouring Umm al-Khair, adding that an Israeli had been arrested for questioning. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Grace Fu apologises for Tanjong Katong sinkhole, says road may stay closed for a few more days Singapore Terrorism threat in Singapore remains high, driven by events like Israeli-Palestinian conflict: ISD Singapore Liquidators score victory to recoup over $900 million from scammer Ng Yu Zhi's associates Singapore Man on trial for raping woman who hired him to repair lights in her flat Sport IOC president Kirsty Coventry a 'huge supporter' of Singapore Singapore 7, including child and firefighter, taken to hospital after fire breaks out in Toa Payoh flat Singapore S'pore can and must meaningfully apply tech like AI in a way that creates jobs for locals: PM Wong Singapore Doctor who forged certificates for aesthetic procedures gets 4 months' jail Mr Hathaleen was a resident of Masafer Yatta, a string of hamlets on the hills south of Hebron, which have been declared a military zone by Israel. Their efforts to prevent Israeli forces from destroying their homes was the subject of No Other Land, which won Best Documentary prize at the Oscars in March 2025. Its Israeli co-director, Mr Yuval Abraham, posted a video on Instagram showing a man with a gun in his hand arguing with a group of people, while shouts can be heard in Hebrew and Arabic. 'An Israeli settler just shot ( Mr Awdah Hathaleen) in the lungs, a remarkable activist who helped us film 'No Other Land' in Masafer Yatta,' Mr Abraham wrote. About three million Palestinians live in the West Bank alongside nearly half a million Israelis living in settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 962 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians, since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to an AFP tally based on PA data. At least 36 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed there in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli data. AFP
