German spy trial of far-right MP's former aide begins
Prosecutors say he worked for the AfD at the European Parliament from 2019 until 2024, and accused Jian G of using the position to gather information for China on EU Parliament consultations and decisions, including what they described as some "particularly sensitive information."He is also charged with spying on Chinese dissidents and opposition figures in Germany, and of gathering personal information about leading figures in the AfD. The high-profile case has fuelled concern about Europe being a target for Chinese spying.Prosecutor Stephan Morweiser told reporters that the case was "particularly serious" as it shed light on "the extensive espionage interests that China has in relation to political, military and economic matters in Germany and the EU".When Jian G was taken into custody last year, China's foreign affairs ministry rejected his arrest as speculation designed "to smear and suppress China". It has denied allegations of espionage in Europe.
Also on trial is a Chinese national named as Jaqi X. She worked at a firm that provided Leipzig airport with logistics services.From mid-August 2023 to mid-February 2024, she is accused of assisting Jian G by repeatedly providing him with information for the Chinese intelligence service about flights, cargo, and passengers at Leipzig Airport.The information related in particular to the transport of military equipment and people with connections to a German defence contractor.She told the court she knew nothing about connections to the Chinese intelligence service.The trial is expected to last until late September and reports in the German media say Maximilian Krah has been called to appear as a witness.Krah resigned from his seat in the European Parliament earlier this year. He was elected to the Bundestag in February via an AfD direct mandate in Saxony.He is currently under investigation by the Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office, reportedly concerning allegations of money laundering and corruption as an elected representative in the European Parliament.Krah has called the accusations "absurd and politically motivated."
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Western Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Trump's broad tariffs go into effect
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Now that companies understand the direction the US is headed, the administration believes it can ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance the US economy as a manufacturing power. But so far, there are signs of self-inflicted wounds to America as companies and consumers alike brace for the impact of new taxes. What the data has shown is a US economy that changed in April with Mr Trump's initial rollout of tariffs, an event that led to market drama, a negotiating period and Mr Trump's ultimate decision to start his universal tariffs on Thursday. A customer shops in a grain isle at New India Bazar in Fremont, California, where most merchandise is imported from India and Canada (Noah Berger/AP) After April, economic reports show that hiring began to stall, inflationary pressures crept upward and home values in key markets started to decline, said John Silvia, chief executive of Dynamic Economic Strategy. 'A less productive economy requires fewer workers,' Mr Silvia said in an analysis note. 'But there is more, the higher tariff prices lower workers' real wages. The economy has become less productive, and firms cannot pay the same real wages as before. Actions have consequences.' Even then, the ultimate transformations of the tariffs are unknown and could play out over months, if not years. Many economists say the risk is that the American economy is steadily eroded rather than collapsing instantly. 'We all want it to be made for television where it's this explosion – it's not like that,' said Brad Jensen, a professor at Georgetown University. 'It's going to be fine sand in the gears and slow things down.' The Statue of Liberty is seen near Port Liberty Terminals in New York (Frank Franklin II/AP) Mr Trump has promoted the tariffs as a way to reduce the persistent trade deficit. But importers sought to avoid the taxes by importing more goods before the taxes went into effect. As a result, the 582.7 billion dollar trade imbalance for the first half of the year was 38% higher than in 2024. Total construction spending has dropped 2.9% over the past year. The lead-up to Thursday fit the slapdash nature of Mr Trump's tariffs, which have been variously rolled out, walked back, delayed, increased, imposed by letter and frantically renegotiated. The process has been so muddled that officials for key trade partners were unclear at the start of the week whether the tariffs would begin on Thursday or Friday. An employee counts US dollar notes at a money changer in Jakarta, Indonesia (Tatan Syuflana/AP) The language of the July 31 order to delay the start of tariffs from August 1 said the higher tax rates would start in seven days. On Wednesday morning, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, was asked if the new tariffs began at midnight on Thursday, and he said reporters should check with the US Trade Representative's Office. Mr Trump on Wednesday announced additional 25% tariffs to be imposed on India for its buying of Russian oil, bringing its total import taxes to 50%. He has said that import taxes are still coming on pharmaceutical drugs and announced 100% tariffs on computer chips, meaning the US economy could remain in a place of suspended animation as it awaits the impact. The president's use of a 1977 law to declare an economic emergency to impose the tariffs is also under challenge. The impending ruling from last week's hearing before a US appeals court could cause Mr Trump to find other legal justifications if judges say he exceeded his authority. Even people who worked with Mr Trump during his first term are sceptical that things will go smoothly for the economy, such as Paul Ryan, the former Republican House of Representatives speaker, who has emerged as a Trump critic. Tropical spices are displayed for sale at a Presidente Supermarket in North Miami, Florida (Marta Lavandier/AP) 'There's no sort of rationale for this other than the president wanting to raise tariffs based upon his whims, his opinions,' Mr Ryan told CNBC on Wednesday. 'I think choppy waters are ahead because I think they're going to have some legal challenges.' Still, the stock market has been solid during the recent tariff drama, with the S&P 500 index climbing more than 25% from its April low. The market's rebound and the income tax cuts in Mr Trump's tax and spending measures signed into law on July 4 have given the White House confidence that economic growth is bound to accelerate in the coming months. As of now, Mr Trump still foresees an economic boom while the rest of the world and American voters wait nervously. 'There's one person who can afford to be cavalier about the uncertainty that he's creating, and that's Donald Trump,' said Rachel West, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who worked in the Biden White House on labour policy. 'The rest of Americans are already paying the price for that uncertainty.'
Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
The EU could win the trade war with the US
LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S.-EU trade deal has been heavily criticised as a capitulation by the bloc. But if you dive into the agreement details, the European Union is likely not only to suffer less than the U.S. but may even see its economy benefit from the new global tariff regime. The EU on July 28 came to an agreement with the U.S. that set base levies on EU goods at 15%, below the 30% rate U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened, through still much higher than tariffs were before the trade war began. Many analysts and journalists alike are adamant that the trade deal the EU struck was a big win for the U.S. and a major loss for the EU. Even French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou seems to think so. The main thrust of the argument is that the EU should have been strong enough to inflict measurable pain on the U.S. but instead made lots of promises without getting much in return. Plus, some European leaders are concerned that their exporters will suffer from lower U.S. demand in the short term. Allow me to disagree and state that, as it stands today, the EU is winning the trade war. First, let us compare the EU trade deal with the agreement that one of Europe's major competitors, Japan, struck with the U.S. just five days earlier. Both countries were hit with a baseline tariff rate of 15%, and both made much-derided promises to boost investment in the U.S. While Europe's total pledge is larger in nominal terms, it only represents around 7% of the EU's GDP compared to over 13% for Japan. The numbers clearly suggest the EU got a better deal than Japan, even without accounting for the fact that Japanese businesses depend more on exports to the U.S. than their EU counterparts. Moreover, neither the EU's promised $600 billion investments in the U.S. nor the purchase of $750 billion in energy commodities is arguably a real concession. Over the last three years, EU businesses have invested some $605 billion in the U.S., so investing another $600 billion in the next three years would likely have happened regardless. And as Reuters Open Interest columnist Clyde Russell explained, it is delusional to think the U.S. can deliver $750 billion in energy commodities to the EU in the next three years. On top of this, modelled projections of the impact of the tariffs on the U.S. and other countries suggest that, based on the announced tariff levels, the U.S. will suffer more than the EU both in terms of GDP and inflation. Over the next 12 months, my model – which is a global trade model that considers the dynamic relationships between trade, growth, inflation, and foreign exchange rates – forecasts a 1 percentage point (pp) increase in U.S. inflation and a 0.4 pp decline in GDP growth. The Yale Budget model, opens new tab anticipates a similar hit to GDP, but it anticipates a larger 1.8 pp boost to inflation. Meanwhile, my model indicates that in the next 12 months, the impact on EU inflation and growth should both be in the order of 0.2 pp to 0.3 pp. In short, the EU appears set to suffer less from the new tariff regime than the U.S. in the next year. And in the medium term, the EU could very well be a net winner from this new trade environment, as new supply chains are established in response to the higher global tariff environment. In fact, my model indicates that, based on the tariffs currently announced, the EU's GDP could actually increase by around 0.1 pp compared to a no-tariff scenario. Why? Because China and several other economies like India, Brazil and possibly Switzerland face much higher tariffs than the EU, which could allow EU exporters to gain market share from these international competitors. After all, U.S. businesses and consumers who cannot replace imported goods with domestically produced ones will seek to find the cheapest possible imported good. And while Chinese imports tend to be cheaper than those from Europe, they will now come with much higher tariffs, eroding China's price advantage. Some recent economic data releases suggest these model forecasts could be onto something. Consider new manufacturing orders in recent PMI surveys. In the U.S. they crashed in April after rising in the first quarter due to businesses front-running tariffs, and they continue to hover well below the crucial 50-point mark denoting expansion and contraction. Meanwhile, in the EU, this indicator has accelerated and remains well above the levels seen in the U.S. Where does that leave us? Sentiment in the EU following the trade deal appears to have become too negative, while investors simultaneously appear too complacent about America's economic prospects. This sounds like where we were at the beginning of the year, right before Europe started outperforming. (The views expressed here are those of Joachim Klement, an investment strategist at Panmure Liberum, the UK's largest independent investment bank). Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI),, opens new tab your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI, opens new tab can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn,, opens new tab and X., opens new tab
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
EU assessment finds significant obstructive factors undermine humanitarian operations in Gaza
BRUSSELS, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be very severe, an EU official told Reuters after the EU's foreign policy and humanitarian arms updated member countries late on Wednesday on the status of an agreement reached with Israel last month on boosting humanitarian access to Gaza. The official said on Thursday that there were some positive developments regarding fuel delivery, the reopening of some routes, and an upward trend in the number of daily trucks entering the enclave and the repair of some vital infrastructure. However, the official added that "significant obstructive factors continue to undermine humanitarian operations and aid delivery to Gaza, notably the lack of a safe operating environment to allow the distribution of aid at scale."
