Trump's tariffs on Canada might be here to stay, U.S. Secretary of Commerce says
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CNBC
9 minutes ago
- CNBC
Trump arrives in Scotland for golf and bilateral talks as EU trade deal nears
U.S. President Donald Trump, dogged by questions about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arrived in Scotland on Friday for some golf and bilateral talks that could yield a trade deal with the European Union. Trump told reporters upon his arrival that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland and meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom he called a "highly respected woman." As hundreds of onlookers cheered his arrival, Trump reiterated his earlier comment about a 50-50 chance of securing a deal with the EU, adding that it would be his administration's largest trade agreement thus far, if it came together. However, he said there were still "sticking points" with Brussels on "maybe 20 different things." Trump said his meeting with Starmer would be more of a celebration of the trade deal already reached than continued work on it, adding, "It's a great deal for both." Before he left Washington, Trump stated that his administration was working diligently on a potential trade deal with the EU, and Brussels was eager to finalize a deal. Von der Leyen said later she would meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday. EU diplomats say a deal could result in a 15% tariff on EU goods, mirroring a framework accord with Japan reached this week and half of the 30% Trump is threatening to impose by Aug. 1. Trump has sought to reorder the global economy after imposing a 10% tariff on nearly all trading partners in April and threatening sharply higher rates for many countries to kick in a week from now. Trump says the moves will reduce the U.S. trade deficit and generate additional revenue, but economists warn that the new trade policies could drive up inflation. Trump, facing the biggest domestic political crisis of his second term, expressed frustration about ongoing questions about his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and his 2019 death in prison. "You make it a very big thing over something that's not a big thing," Trump told reporters in Scotland, urging them to focus on other prominent Americans with ties to Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton. "Talk about Clinton. Talk about the former president of Harvard. Talk about all of his friends. Talk about the hedge fund guys that were with him all the time. Don't talk about Trump," he said. "What you should be talking about is the fact that we have the greatest six months in the history of a presidency." The Epstein issue has caused a rare breach with some of Trump's most loyal Make America Great Again supporters, and majorities of Americans and Trump's Republicans say they believe the government is hiding details on the case, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. White House officials are hoping the controversy dies down while Trump is abroad, two people familiar with the matter said. Trump will stay at his Turnberry property on Scotland's west coast this weekend, before traveling on Monday to a golf property in Aberdeen, where he will open a second 18-hole course named in honor of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod. MacLeod was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to the U.S. As he left the White House, Trump said he looked forward to meeting both Starmer and Scottish leader John Swinney, who had publicly backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The trip provides Trump and Starmer with an opportunity to strengthen their already warm ties, with key issues on the agenda, including ending Russia's war in Ukraine, according to British and U.S. sources. The deteriorating situation in Gaza is also likely to come up. Starmer on Thursday said he would hold an emergency call with France and Germany over what he called the "unspeakable and indefensible" suffering and starvation being reported there, and called on Israel to allow aid to enter the Palestinian enclave. Gaza health authorities say more than 100 people have died from starvation, most in recent weeks. Human rights groups have said mass starvation is spreading even as tons of food and other supplies sit untouched just outside the territory. Since being elected last year, Starmer has prioritized good relations with Trump, stressing the importance of Britain's defense and security alliance with the U.S., while working to clinch the first tariff-reduction deal with the U.S. in May. The framework agreement reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the UK's aerospace sector, but left steel tariffs in place. Starmer is expected to press for lower steel tariffs, but sources close to the matter said it was unclear if any breakthrough was possible during Trump's visit. Trump has described Scotland as a "very special place" and made a similar trip there in 2016 during his earlier presidential run, but he will not necessarily receive a warm welcome. About 70% of Scots hold an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 18% have a favorable opinion, according to an Ipsos poll conducted in March. Scottish police are gearing up for protests on Saturday in both Aberdeen and Edinburgh, the country's capital. Trump will return to Britain from Sept. 17-19 for a state visit hosted by King Charles. It will make Trump the first world leader in modern times to undertake two state visits to the United Kingdom. The late Queen Elizabeth hosted him at Buckingham Palace for a three-day state visit in June 2019.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Canada's civil service needs more 'plumbers' and fewer 'poets'
Donald J. Savoie has spent decades studying the inner workings of Canada's federal bureaucracy. He's watched Ottawa grow more centralized and more crowded with what he calls 'poets,' policy thinkers and advisers, while the 'plumbers,' the front-line workers delivering services to Canadians, have not been prioritized. In an interview with National Post about the concept, as discussed in his recent book Speaking Truth to Canadians About Their Public Service, Savoie explains why that imbalance matters. Savoie is Canada Research Chair in Public Administration and Governance at Université de Moncton. Please briefly define what you mean by 'plumbers and poets' when it comes to the civil service. Thank you for the question, that's a good one. A lot of times I've been interviewed about the book, and not many have caught on to the poets and the plumbers, and I think it's key. Poets are people mostly in Ottawa, that are part of the government who work on policy issues, who work on liaison, on coordination or dealing with media or dealing with ministers so they define policy. Plumbers are the ones delivering services to Canadians. Plumbers are the ones you applied to for a passport, plumbers are the ones you applied to for old age pension or whatever program that you want to access; they're the ones that deliver programs and services to Canadians. So the differences between poets to plumbers is fairly pronounced. How much has the federal civil service grown in the last decade or so? It's grown by leaps and bounds over the past 10 years. In 2014 it was 340,000, in 2025 we're up to 445,000, so you can see the difference there. It's over 100,000 more. How has that growth affected the ratio of plumbers to poets, and what's the correct ratio? The growth has clearly favoured the poets. And the reason I say that is just the sheer numbers of public servants in Ottawa — the number has grown. And it has not grown anywhere near the same amount in local and regional offices. What's the right number? What's the right percentage? Frankly, it's difficult to answer that. I would remind you that 40 years ago about 25 per cent of federal public servants were in Ottawa, and 75 per cent out in the regions, and that sounded like a proper number. So my view is that we should strive towards that. I can tell you that in France, England, and the United States, the number of public servants in the national capital, whether in London, or Washington, or Paris, is nowhere near the percentage we have in Canada. Is there any government, in Canada or elsewhere, getting this right? In the U.K. for example, I'm taking a stab here, but like 75 per cent of public servants are outside of London, and the government over the past several years has made a deliberate attempt to move more and more public servants outside of London. No country in the western world has concentrated as many employees in the national capital region as has Canada. You are an academic, which is to some extent the domain of poets and not plumbers, should we be surprised by your position? Don't we still need people thinking big thoughts in a country of our size? There's no shortage of people in Ottawa trying to think big thoughts. I think if there's a problem it's at the service delivery. It's people trying to call Revenue Canada to get answers about income tax, and it's having issues with supplying passports. So, big thoughts, there's thousands of them in Ottawa paid to have big thoughts. I don't think there's a lack of big thoughts, there's a lack of people delivering services to Canadians. You don't need an army of people to come up with big thoughts. Do you think there are any lessons in your theory for the private sector? I think the private sector has no choice (but) to get it right, has no choice to strike a proper balance, because if a large private-sector firm doesn't strike a proper balance, the market will tell it to strike the proper balance. The competition will tell it to strike the proper balance. There is a natural equilibrium in the private sector that happens just because there's competition, there's market forces, there's all kinds of forces that dictate how important it is to run an efficient operation; those forces are not present in the public sector. The Carney government has announced 15 per cent budget cuts across the board. Does this address your issue? What I can say is that I wish them well. I think a better solution would be, we have nearly 300 federal organizations, we have 100 federal government programs, I think a better solution would be for the federal government to take a strong look at all its organizations and all its programs and see which ones have long passed their best-by date. See which programs no longer resonate like they did when they were first established. I think there's a lot of pruning of organizations and programs that could take place. The 15 per cent cuts sends a message that every program, every organization holds the same priority, just squeeze 15 per cent. I would've thought a better solution was to see that we have programs that don't fit our agenda. We have organizations that don't serve the purpose that they were initially set up for so why don't we look at that once we've cleaned that up then maybe we can look at the 15 per cent. Are there any obvious markers as to a civil service job's usefulness? There are some, not many, I'll give you an example. If you hire an auditor at Revenue Canada, every auditor you hire can generate X amount of revenue. So you hire an auditor and you can expect a return. But for most cases, at least for poets, how do you assess the performance of a poet? That's in the eye of the beholder. The poet can have 101 reasons why things don't work. Fault the politicians, it's the media, not enough resources, there's all kinds of reasons you can grab. You can find markers that work on the delivery side, you don't find markers that work on the poet side. This is the latest in a National Post series on How Canada Wins. Public sector union warns Carney against reducing government staff to cut spending Tens of thousands of federal public service jobs should be eliminated, think tank says Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US large banks achieving virtuous tech investment cycle-new Celent report alert
The large US retail banks have all now reported their second quarter earnings. The results were generally positive. Citi, for example, beat second quarter analyst forecasts with revenues ahead by 8% y-o-y and net income up by 25% y-o-y. This resulted in the Citi share price hitting heights not enjoyed since the 2008 financial crisis. Meantime, JPMorgan Chase also beat forecasts and raised its net interest income forecast for the full fiscal after especially strong results in investment banking and trading. It was a similar story at Bank of America, with results also ahead of forecasts and revenues and net income rising by 4% and 7% respectively. A common theme within all of the banks earnings presentations is the positive benefits enjoyed by the banks as they realise tech-driven efficiency gains, with more to come from AI. Bank of America highlighted, for example, that nearly 80% of consumer households are now fully digitally engaged, with 65% of its consumer product sales conducted digitally. The success of the banks tech investments are examined in a flash report from Celent's Michael Bernard, senior analyst, retail banking, details of which are available via this link. Bernard notes that sustained consumer strength, increased digital engagement, and in many cases, continued expense reductions, all boosted the second quarter earnings. Challenges remain On the other hand, interest rates are still 'high-ish' and in a holding pattern, putting pressure on deposit costs. The home lending market remains cool, limiting the ability to capitalise on widening net interest margins. With these factors providing constraints to top-line growth, expense efficiency has become a primary focus for most. In this flash report, Celent evaluates the public presentations and earnings calls from seven of the largest US banks through three lenses: Balancing digital and human support Metrics for digital customer engagement Value of technology to the franchise Celent concludes that most banks are seeking and achieving operational efficiencies through prior technology investments. "US large banks achieving virtuous tech investment cycle-new Celent report alert" was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. 登入存取你的投資組合
