Thailand considering offering zero tariffs on more U.S. imports, finance minister says
The government is also preparing 200 billion baht ($6.1 billion) worth of soft loans to ease the impact of tariffs, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira told a business seminar.
Thailand faces a 36% tariff from Washington if a deal cannot be reached before August 1.
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Rhyl Journal
29 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Trump threatens Russia tariffs if Ukraine war is not resolved within 50 days
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Times
43 minutes ago
- Times
Trump's tariff may make normal trade impossible, says EU negotiator
President Trump's threatened 30 per cent tariffs would render usual trade between the US and the European Union 'almost impossible', the bloc's trade negotiator has warned. Maros Sefcovic issued the warning during talks with European trade ministers, as the EU prepares a €72 billion package of retaliatory measures if the US goes ahead with its tariffs on European exports on August 1. 'If you're talking about 30 per cent or 30 per cent plus, there will be a huge impact on trade,' said Sefcovic, and 'transatlantic supply chains would be heavily affected'. He added: 'It will be almost impossible to continue trading as we are used to in a transatlantic relationship.' Trump stunned European capitals at the weekend and threw negotiations into disarray with a new threat of 30 per cent tariffs on EU imports, a significant increase on the 20 per cent threatened in April, which was then dropped to 10 per cent pending negotiations. Sefcovic said that the EU would have little or nothing to lose by retaliating. 'Thirty per cent or anything above 30 per cent, any additional counter-reaction from the United States, has more or less the same effect. Practically, it prohibits trade.' Following the meeting in Brussels, Sefcovic said: 'The EU never walks away without a genuine effort, especially considering the hard work invested, how close we find ourselves to making a deal and the clear benefits of the negotiated solution. But, it takes two hands to clap.' He said that the commission would circulate its package of retaliatory 'rebalancing' measures to European capitals for approval. 'We want to use every minute of every day until August 1 to find a solution. We will negotiate first and prepare at the same time.' • Irwin Stelzer: It's pay to play in Trump's America — tariffs are here to stay Sefcovic said he would brief EU trade ministers on progress in talks with Washington over the next three weeks. The European Commission suspended the EU's first package of retaliation tariffs, which would have been worth €21 billion, and has prepared a new €72 billion package, which will probably be held in reserve until the August deadline. Initial proposals had been for €20 billion more. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, and Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, have both urged that a deal be negotiated, and they have the support of most other EU governments. France has backed a tougher approach. The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry has calculated that the US tariff policy could reduce German exports to the world's largest economy by €1 billion a month. Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Danish foreign affairs minister, said: 'We should prepare to be ready to use all the tools. If you want peace, you have to prepare for war. And I think that's where we are.' Laurent Saint-Martin, the French trade minister, has called on the EU to go beyond conventional trade retaliation to unprecedented 'anti-coercion' measures targeting America's services and tech sectors. 'This balance of power desired by Donald Trump is a balance of power in which you must demonstrate your ability to fight back, and this is perhaps where we need to accelerate today,' he said. European investors appeared to take the tariff threat seriously. Major indices across the bloc fell on Monday, led by sharp drops in the share prices of car manufacturers. Germany's Dax index of the 40 biggest companies was down more than 200 points in mid-afternoon, at 24,053.43, compared with a record above 24,600 achieved last week. The fall was led by Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and BMW. In France, the CAC was also in the red, losing 40.37 points to 7,788.92.
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump threatens Putin with 100% tariffs
President Donald Trump says the U.S. will slap 100 percent tariffs on Russia if Vladimir Putin doesn't agree to a peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days. The president tore into Putin while meeting with NATO Secretary Mark Rutte in the Oval Office as his anger at the Russian dictator boiled over amid its escalating attacks on Ukraine. Trump said he'll be imposing secondary tariffs on Russia in 50 days if a deal to end the war isn't reached. 'We'll be doing tariffs in 50 days [on Russia] and we'll be doing tariffs - secondary tariffs - at 100 percent,' he said in the Oval Office on Monday. 'I'm disappointed in President Putin. I thought we would've had a deal two months ago,' he went on about the proposed peace deal. Trump will also send sophisticated weaponry, including Patriot missiles, to Ukraine – in his latest pivot in the brutal conflict. 'I'm going to have [ NATO Secretary] Mark Rutte speak about it, but we've made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons and they're going to be paying for them,' he stated. 'We - the United States - will not be having any payment made. We're not buying it, but we will manufacture it, and they're going to be paying for it.' Trump on Sunday night directed yet another sharp comment toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Russia continues to bombard its neighbor with missile and drone attacks. He confirmed that the U.S. will send Patriot missile defense systems that Ukraine says is vital to its defense, after his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instituted a pause that caused a sudden clash within his administration. There are also reports he will send offensive weaponry, after many of his allies have criticized the way way the Biden administration pushed weapons out the door following Russia's 2022 invasion. One tool potentially at his disposal is $3.85 billion in leftover drawdown authority from the prior administration. Trump has only hinted at aspects of the deal, which he has described has having European allies foot the bill for U.S. weaponry. 'We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening,' Trump said in his latest barb at Putin. 'We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100 percent for that, and that's the way we want it,' Trump said. He also teased a 'major statement' on NATO, on a day he is set to meet at the White House with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte . The talks are set to include Secretary of State Marco Rubio , who is back from Malaysia after commenting on the hunt for an imposter who has been using AI to impersonate him , and Hegseth, who has been under fire for his handling of Ukraine after reportedly failing to brief the president on major policy moves. Describing the plan, Trump said: ' We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100 percent for that, and that's the way we want it.' Trump gave the latest hint in his stunning U-turn last week, when he said that the U.S. will 'have to' once again send powerful weapons to Ukraine, despite his administration pausing critical arms shipments the week before. Hegseth was sitting Trump at the time during his cabinet meeting. 'I don't know, why don't you tell me?' Trump replied when asked who ordered the weapons halt. Trump and his top aides have made skeptical comments about the effort to arm Ukraine, which dramatically turned back the thrust of Russia's initial invasion but has been stuck in a war of attrition on its own territory.
