Germany's Merz: will negotiate steel export quotas with US
The EU's trade deal with Trump in July was greeted with a mix of relief and anger, with tariffs set at 15% for most products but negotiations continuing for certain sectors, including steel and aluminium, which carries tariffs of 50%.
The task now is to work out the "fine print," Merz said in the city of Saarbruecken.
"This will particularly concern quotas that we can then export without being burdened with excessive tariffs."
Merz described the agreement as "painful" for the entire European industry but said the EU was not in a position to trigger a full-blown trade dispute.
"There would have been only losers, and the biggest losers would probably have been us, the Europeans."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Zillow CEO reveals what he thinks caused America's 'housing crisis'
Americans everywhere are struggling to purchase homes, with sales reaching a 30 year low in 2024. Despite the tribulations of the housing market itself, the number one real estate site in the country - Zillow - is thriving. CEO Jeremy Wacksman sat down with The New York Times to discuss what may be causing the dip in the housing market and what keeps Zillow afloat amidst it all. The Seattle resident was appointed as CEO a year ago, but has been with the company since 2009. Wacksman added that the major issue with homebuying in the United States is that there is an availability problem. 'We have an affordability crisis, which is driven by an availability crisis. It is a supply-side problem,' he said. While many complain about increasing mortgage rates, he said that it's only a small factor. 'The real problem for a home buyer is home prices are up 30, 50, 70, 100 percent, depending on the market, from pre-pandemic levels. Incomes are not up that much.' According to the US Social Security Office , the average yearly income in 2023 was $66,621, only increasing 4 percent from the year prior. Wacksman noted that if the housing industry had continued to build new properties to keep up with buyer demand, it may not have become the 'crisis' it is today. 'We have been chronically under-building since, really, the global financial crisis,' he said. 'Less supply and a lot of demand is going to keep home prices elevated.' According to Zillow , the average home value is almost $370,000 with just 1.3 million homes in the for-sale inventory. Despite the dip in purchasing and sky-high prices, Zillow is seeing hundreds of millions of unique visitors every month. The company has seen a jump in revenue and its stock is up more than 60 percent. The top site for real-estate listings in the country attracts what the internet has dubbed 'Zillow Surfers.' Those with little to no intention of purchasing a home browse on the website everyday. Wacksman welcomes such browsers. ''Zillow Surfing' is pretty pervasive, regardless of if it's a buyer's market or a seller's market,' he said. 'You spend all this time window shopping and escaping and dreaming. You are getting a little smarter about what you might want, and then something happens and you pull the trigger. 'As a marketer, I don't think you could have a stronger brand endorsement than all of the usage you get from people escaping on your platform.' The way Zillow makes money is by selling ads to real estate companies who want to reach those endlessly scrolling Zillow-surfers. The company requires agents to post listings within 24 hours of being on the market . If not, it's never allowed on the site at all. Real estate companies like Compass have grown wary of Zillow, and even filed a lawsuit claiming they maintain a monopoly, calling it a 'Zillow ban.' But Wacksman said that the lawsuit itself speaks to the larger issues of seller transparency within the United States housing market. 'The heart of the issue is the U.S. real estate market currently exists with a unique amount of transparency,' he said. 'So you and I, as a buyer and seller, can see all available listings, and that empowers us to shop on our own. There are a few companies that are looking to put the internet back in a box and hide inventory and force you to pay them. 'The lawsuit is about challenging that consumer benefit and that transparency.' Now, Zillow is trying to shift toward a 'super app' structure that allows buyers to be connected with any resources that they may need. That includes mortgage providers and rental properties as well as any other related services.
Reuters
2 minutes ago
- Reuters
Switzerland could revise offer on Trump tariffs, business minister says
ZURICH, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The Swiss government is open to revising its offer to the United States in response to planned heavy tariffs, Business Minister Guy Parmelin said, as experts warned the 39% import duties announced by President Donald Trump could trigger a recession in Switzerland. Switzerland was left stunned on Friday after Trump hit the country with one of the highest tariffs in his global trade reset, with industry associations warning of tens of thousands of jobs being put at risk. The country's cabinet will hold a special meeting on Monday to discuss its next steps, with Parmelin telling broadcaster RTS that the government would move quickly before the U.S. tariffs are imposed on August 7. "We need to fully understand what happened, why the U.S. president made this decision. Once we have that on the table, we can decide how to proceed," Parmelin said. "The timeline is tight, it may be hard to achieve something by the 7th, but we'll do everything we can to show goodwill and revise our offer," he added. Parmelin said Trump was focused on the U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland, which stood at 38.5 billion Swiss francs ($48 billion) last year, with Switzerland buying U.S liquefied natural gas (LNG) among the options under consideration. Another option could be further investments by Swiss companies in the United States, Switzerland's biggest export market for its pharmaceuticals, watches and machinery. "Look at the European Union, they promised to buy LNG. Switzerland imports LNG too — maybe that's one path," Parmelin said. "Maybe more investments. But to be sure it's a strong enough basis for continuing talks, we have to fully understand what the U.S. expects." Both Parmelin and Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter were also ready to travel to Washington to pursue talks if necessary, he added. Swiss officials rejected reports that the higher than expected tariffs were imposed after a bad-tempered telephone call between Keller-Sutter and Trump late on Thursday. "The call was not a success, there was not a good outcome for Switzerland," a government source told Reuters. "But there was not a quarrel. Trump made it clear from the very beginning that he had a completely different point of view, that 10% tariffs were not enough. "We are working hard to find a solution and are in contact with the American side," the source added. "We hope we can find a solution before August 7." Tariffs would have a huge impact on Switzerland's export-orientated economy and raised the risk of a recession, said Hans Gersbach, an economist at ETH, a university in Zurich. Swiss economic output would be reduced by 0.3% to 0.6% if the 39% tariff was imposed, a figure which could rise to above 0.7% if pharmaceuticals - which are currently not covered by the U.S. import duties - were included. Prolonged disruptions could shrink Swiss GDP by more 1%, Gersbach said. "There would be a risk of a recession," Gersbach said. Swiss shares are expected to be hit by the tariffs news when the stock market reopens on Monday after being closed during the Swiss National Day holiday on Friday. The tariffs could also see the Swiss National Bank cut interest rates in September, said Nomura. "We expect one more 25bp policy rate cut from the SNB in September, which would take the rate to -0.25%," the bank said. "A hit to growth from U.S. tariffs on exports would likely weaken economic growth and cause further deflation pressures, adding to the likelihood of easing to a negative policy rate."
Reuters
30 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump, Carney to speak in coming days, Canadian official says
WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely talk "over the next number of days" after the U.S. imposed a 35% tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a Canadian official said on Sunday. Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, also told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he was "encouraged" by recent discussions and believed a deal to bring down tariffs remained an option. "We're encouraged by the conversations with Secretary Lutnick and Ambassador Greer, but we're not yet where we need to go to get the deal that's in the best interest of the two economies," LeBlanc said, referring to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The trade minister said he expected Carney and Trump to speak "over the next number of days." "We think there is an option of striking a deal that will bring down some of these tariffs provide greater certainty to investment," LeBlanc said. Washington linked Friday's tariff announcement in part to what it said was Canada's failure to stop fentanyl smuggling. It was the latest blow in a months-long tariff war which Trump initiated shortly after returning to power this year. Carney says Canada accounts for just 1% of U.S. fentanyl imports and has been working intensively to further reduce the volumes.
