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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
President says Moldovans hold EU future in their hands ahead of key election
CHISINAU (Reuters) -President Maia Sandu said on Friday that Moldovans hold in their own hands the fate of the country's bid to join the European Union ahead of a September election in which she hopes her pro-European party will maintain its control over parliament. Sandu, who wants her country, one of the poorest in Europe, to join the EU by 2030, was speaking at the end of the 27-nation bloc's first summit with Moldova. Her Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) is fighting to retain its parliamentary majority in the election against a challenge from the pro-Russian Socialist Party and its allies. Sandu won re-election last year by a razor-thin margin over a Socialist challenger in the ex-Soviet state lying between Ukraine and Romania. And a referendum asking voters to back the drive for EU membership only just cleared a 50% majority. "Prosperity and peace do not occur for nothing, you have to build them. With collective effort and unity. When citizens are united and choose the correct path and proceed along it," Sandu told a news conference at the end of the meeting. "The European Union is already happening here. The only risk is if we stop. If we decide this autumn that nothing will stop us, then everything is possible." Sandu and her party have denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine and accuse Moscow of destabilising their country. Russia says many Moldovans want to retain links with Moscow and accuse her of fomenting Russophobia. Opinion polls show that it will be difficult for any one party to secure a majority in the assembly. Should no majority emerge, talks would have to follow talks with other pro-European parties. At the summit, attended by the head of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Antonio Costa, head of the European Council, the EU announced the disbursement of the first 270 million euro ($318 million) tranche of an Economic Growth Plan. Also announced was an accord to enable Moldovans to communicate by telephone in EU countries without roaming charges, a measure meant to stimulate business contacts.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Treasury secretary says countries without trade deals will see tariffs 'boomerang' to April rates by Aug. 1
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the U.S. will revert to steep country-by-country tariff rates at the beginning of August, weeks after the tariff rate pause is set to expire. 'President Trump's going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don't move things along, then on Aug. 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,' Bessent said in an interview on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'So I think we're going to see a lot of deals very quickly.' President Donald Trump had originally set a 90-day deadline — set to expire Wednesday — for countries to renegotiate the eye-watering tariff levels he laid out in his April 2 'Liberation Day' speech. He paused those rates a week later, while setting a new 90-day deadline to renegotiate them. That deadline was set to expire Wednesday. CNN host Dana Bash responded to Bessent on Sunday, saying, 'There's basically a new deadline,' prompting Bessent to push back. 'It's not a new deadline. We are saying this is when it's happening,' Bessent said. 'If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice.' On Friday, Trump, too, referred to an Aug. 1 deadline, raising questions about whether the July 9 deadline still stands. A White House spokesperson did not provide a comment when asked to clarify whether the April 2 tariff rates would resume July 9 or Aug. 1. The president has recently given shifting descriptions of how firm the July 9 deadline is, saying at the end of June, 'We can extend it, we can shorten it,' only to double down on it several days later, saying he was not thinking about extending it. Shortly after midnight Friday, Trump referred to an Aug. 1 timeline, telling reporters that the April 2 tariff rates would resume at the start of August. Asked whether the U.S. would be flexible with any countries about on the July 9 deadline, Trump said, 'Not really.' 'They'll start to pay on Aug. 1,' he added. 'The money will start to come into the United States on Aug. 1, OK, in pretty much all cases.' Trump said Friday that the administration would start sending letters to countries, adding, 'I think by the 9th they'll be fully covered.' 'They'll range in value from maybe 60% or 70% tariffs to 10% and 20% tariffs, but they're going to be starting to go out sometime tomorrow,' Trump said overnight on Friday. 'We've done the final form, and it's basically going to explain what the countries are going to be paying in tariffs.' Tariffs are paid by importers — which can pass on part or all of the costs to consumers — and not necessarily by entities in the goods' country of origin. Bessent also said Sunday that 'many of these countries never even contacted us.' The White House had initially projected confidence that dozens of countries would try to make deals. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on NBC News' 'Meet the Press' in April that 'we've got 90 deals in 90 days possibly pending here.' Late last month, Trump said, 'Everybody wants to make a deal,' and after he announced sweeping tariffs on April 2, he said countries were 'calling us up, kissing my a--.' 'They are,' he said in April. 'They are dying to make a deal. 'Please, please, sir, make a deal. I'll do anything.'' The renewed uncertainty is likely to further upset markets, where stock futures went lower Friday after Trump mentioned the country letters. Stocks have returned to all-time highs in part due to the lull in tariff news. So far, Trump has imposed higher import duties on autos and auto parts, steel and aluminum, and goods from China and Vietnam. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Pressure from Trump for trade deals before Wednesday deadline, but hints of more time for talks
Advertisement 'The United States is always willing to talk to everybody about everything,' Hassett said. 'There are deadlines, and there are things that are close, so maybe things will push back past the deadline or maybe they won't. In the end the president is going to make that judgment.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, likewise said countries negotiating in good faith and making concessions could 'sort of, get the date rolled.' The Advertisement Trump imposed elevated tariff rates on dozens of nations that run meaningful trade surpluses with the United States, and a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries in response to what he called an economic emergency. There are separate Since April, few foreign governments have set new trade terms with Washington as the Republican president has demanded. Trump told reporters Friday that his administration might be sending out letters as early as Saturday to countries spelling out their tariff rates if they did not reach a deal, but that the United States would not start collecting those taxes until Aug. 1. On Sunday, he said he would send out letters starting Monday — 'could be 12, could be 15' — to foreign governments reflecting planned tariffs for each. 'We've made deals also,' Trump told reporters before heading back to the White House from his home in New Jersey. 'So we'll get to have a combination of letters, and some deals have been made.' He and his advisers have declined to say which countries would receive the letters. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rejected the idea that Aug. 1 was a new deadline and declined to say what might happen Wednesday. 'We'll see,' Bessent said on CNN's State of the Union. 'I'm not going to give away the playbook.' He said the United States was 'close to several deals,' and predicted several big announcements over the next few days. He gave no details. Advertisement 'I think we're going to see a lot of deals very quickly,' Bessent said. Trump has announced a deal with Vietnam that would allow US goods to enter the country duty-free, while Vietnamese exports to the United States would face a 20 percent levy. That was a decline from the 46 percent tax on Vietnamese imports he proposed in April — one of his so-called reciprocal tariffs targeting dozens of countries with which the United States runs a trade deficit. Asked if he expected to reach deals with the 'We have India coming up and with Vietnam, we did it, but much easier to send a letter saying, 'Listen, we know we have a certain deficit, or in some cases a surplus, but not too many. And this is what you're going to have to pay if you want to do business in the United States.'' Canada, however, will not be one of the countries receiving letters, Trump's ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, said Friday after trade talks between the two countries recently resumed. 'Canada is one of our biggest trading partners,' Hoekstra told CTV News in an interview in Ottawa. 'We're going to have a deal that's articulated.' Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants a new deal in place by July 21 or Canada will increase trade countermeasures. Hoekstra would not commit to a date for a trade agreement and said even with a deal, Canada could still face some tariffs. But, 'We're not going to send Canada just a letter,' he said. Advertisement
