E.U. tariffs set to raise pasta and wine prices, threatening jobs on both sides of the Atlantic
The 30% tariffs on European Union imports, announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday, could be a 'death blow' to the European food industry and lead to price hikes for American consumers, the Italian winemakers association UIV said. 'The 30% tariff on wine … would be virtually an embargo on 80% of Italian wine,' the group added, according to a translated statement.
Coldiretti, an association that represents European agricultural companies, said American consumers would likely face shortages or see price hikes for imported wine, cheese and pastas.
And German industry association BDI called the escalation 'incomprehensible,' warning that it threatened jobs and investment worldwide. Germany is the top E.U. exporter to the U.S.
Cars and other vehicles produced in the E.U. could also face increased prices. "The costs for our companies have already reached the billions—and with each passing day, the total continues to grow," the German auto trade group VDA told NBC News in a statement Monday.
Those statements come after Trump sent a letter to the E.U. (and a separate one to Mexico) on Saturday threatening a blanket 30% tariff on goods shipped to the U.S. starting Aug. 1, an indication that ongoing trade negotiations have failed. After initially backing down from his 'Liberation Day' tariffs and promising trade deals with dozens of countries, Trump has steadily returned to his trade war posture, sending letters to countries around the world with ultimatums and tariff rates from 20% to 40%.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, a key source of U.S. food and wine exports, said Saturday he strongly disapproved of the 30% tariff and urged the E.U. to speed up 'the preparation of credible countermeasures.' He said trading partners such as the U.S. and Europe 'owe each other' respect.
In 2024, the U.S. was the top destination for E.U. exports. The top exported products from the E.U. to the U.S. last year were medical and pharmaceutical products, medicines, motor vehicles and machinery, according to Eurostat.
Trump has threatened sector-specific tariffs on pharmaceutical products, although it's not clear when those might be unveiled.
Ireland's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Simon Harris, one of the first E.U. leaders to react to Trump's Saturday letter, said 'there is no necessity to escalate the situation.' Harris said he planned to meet with the U.S. ambassador to Ireland on Monday to discuss the situation.
Ireland is the top source of U.S. pharma imports from the E.U., and serves as the European headquarters of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Meta.
Speaking in Brussels on Monday after a meeting of E.U. trade ministers, the European Commission's top trade negotiator, Maros Šefčovič, said the 30% tariff 'is absolutely unacceptable. That is the level which is absolutely prohibitive to any trade.'
Last year, the total value of E.U.-U.S. trade amounted to nearly $2 trillion.
Some are still expressing hope for a deal.
'The clear impression was that we were very, very close in agreement in principle,' Denmark's foreign minister said Monday after the trade ministers meeting. 'Unfortunately, it wasn't possible due to this presidential letter, but it is still our major vision that we should reach an agreement, but we also want to send signal that it must be a fair deal for everybody.'
For its part, the E.U. has delayed any countermeasures — or retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. — but it currently has more than $100 billion of retaliatory tariffs on standby.
Some of that retaliation targets goods and produce from politically sensitive U.S. states, such as soybeans from House Speaker Mike Johnson's home state of Louisiana or bourbon from Kentucky. Other retaliatory tariffs could target Boeing planes and U.S.-built vehicles.
The American Chamber of Commerce in the E.U. said it was 'concerned' about the tariffs that it said would 'generate damaging ripple effects across all sectors of the EU and US economies.' The group added that 'tariffs disrupt supply chains and add costs and complexity for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.'
Despite the major escalation, Šefčovič said that he planned to speak with his American counterparts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, on Monday to keep negotiations going.
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The Guardian
37 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Slovakia blocks EU move to impose new sanctions package on Russia
Update: Date: 2025-07-15T15:45:07.000Z Title: Kaja Kallas Content: EU foreign policy chief says 'ball is in Slovakia's court' after leader Robert Fico blocked 'imbecile' proposal to ban Russian gas imports from 2028 Tom Ambrose (now) and Jakub Krupa (earlier) Tue 15 Jul 2025 17.45 CEST First published on Tue 15 Jul 2025 09.27 CEST From 4.59pm CEST 16:59 EU foreign policy chief is now briefing the media after today's foreign affairs council in Brussels. She begins by talking about Ukraine and Russia: 'Russia's bombing campaign has reached record levels, and we see increasing use of banned chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine. All this shows that Russia does not want peace.' She then confirms that Slovakia blocked the adoption of the 18th package of sanctions today as she says: 'I'm really sad that we didn't reach this agreement today. I must say that we were really close to reassuring Slovakia. The commission has delivered what they asked for. Now, the ball is in Slovakia's court, and we must get this deal done. It has been already two months. Sanctions are necessary to starve Russia of the means to wage this war, and the European Union will keep rising the cost, so stopping its aggression becomes the only path forward to Moscow.' She adds that she welcomes Trump's announcements last night, but says the EU 'would like to see the US to share the burden'. 'America and Europe are working together, and if we are working together, this can put the pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously. The only way to get Putin to end this war is to force his hand,' she said. 5.45pm CEST 17:45 EU foreign ministers will discuss Russian frozen assets during an informal meeting at the end of August, EU foreign policy chief said on Tuesday after a meeting with the ministers in Brussels. 'It's important that everybody hears everybody's arguments, and then we can also come up with compromises to address these sensitivities', Kallas said. 5.25pm CEST 17:25 Joseph Gedeon Marjorie Taylor Greene has criticized Donald Trump over his new pledge to send 'billions of dollars' worth of weapons to Ukraine, accusing him of breaking a campaign promise by continuing the very aid that Republicans spent years blocking under Joe Biden. 'MAGA did not vote for more weapons to Ukraine,' the Georgia congresswoman, one of Trump's most staunch allies in Washington, wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to the 'Make America great again' moniker adopted by Trump's base of supporters. 'MAGA voted for no more US involvement in foreign wars.' Trump's Oval Office announcement on Monday with the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, represented a pivot from his longstanding position of wanting to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict quickly, and a U-turn on the administration's rhetoric towards European defence more broadly. The president said the sales would include a 'full complement' of weapons, including Patriot missiles. 'We will have some within days,' Trump said. Under the plan, he said European allies would swap existing Patriots for American-made systems and foot the bill by raising defense spending to 5% of GDP. Updated at 5.40pm CEST 5.12pm CEST 17:12 Jakub Krupa I'm handing the blog over to Tom Ambrose who will guide you through the rest of the afternoon. 5.12pm CEST 17:12 Asked what she meant by saying that the US could share more of the burden on helping Ukraine with the new military deliveries, Kallas says: 'Well, if we pay for these weapons, it's our support. it's European support, and we are doing as much as we can to help Ukraine. And therefore the call is that that everybody would do the same. If you promise to give the weapons, but say that somebody else who is going to pay for it is not really given by you, is it?' 5.07pm CEST 17:07 Separately, Kallas also spoke briefly about Georgia – worrying that 'the assault on democracy by the Georgian Dream is growing more severe' and saying that 'Georgia's democratic backsliding will come at cost' – and Moldova, stressing that the country is 'a prime target of Moscow's hybrid war' and warning that anyone attempting to destabilise the country will face EU sanctions. She later returns to Georgia, saying that suspending EU visa-free regime for Georgia could be on the table as the Georgian government needs to 'ensure and uphold the protection of fundamental rights of all Georgian citizens.' She says: 'They have been given a deadline until the end of August to comply with this. Then the question is, how do we then react if these recommendations have not been fulfilled? And as we hear that, for example, seven opposition leaders out of eight have been put in jail, this is not really in accordance with the you know, the first point that I pointed out.' She adds that the EU does not want to hurt Georgian people and take the visa-free movement away from them, but adds 'it is also an issue of credibility for the EU.' Updated at 5.10pm CEST 5.05pm CEST 17:05 Kallas was also asked about Fico's comments (15:56), addressing them in very general terms saying that 'if you go into negotiations or worries you have, [and] your sensitivities are addressed, then it's … important that you don't present any anything on top of it.' She says that further talks on technical level will continue on Wednesday, and suggests it's important to adopt the package to 'put the pressure on Russia,' but acknowledges that it's difficult to navigate the process with 27 member states. She declines to say if she sees Fico's as reasonable. 5.02pm CEST 17:02 On the Middle East, Kallas says there are 'positive signs' in the aftermath of last week's humanitarian deal between the EU and Israel when it comes to Gaza, but 'Israel needs to take more concrete steps to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground.' She added: 'I also presented ministers an inventory of different measures that could be taken in relation to the review done in June. So we had a discussion on this, and these are choices that the member states have to make. We will keep these options on the table and stand ready to act if Israel does not live up to its pledges. The aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to really improve the situation in Gaza.' 4.59pm CEST 16:59 EU foreign policy chief is now briefing the media after today's foreign affairs council in Brussels. She begins by talking about Ukraine and Russia: 'Russia's bombing campaign has reached record levels, and we see increasing use of banned chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine. All this shows that Russia does not want peace.' She then confirms that Slovakia blocked the adoption of the 18th package of sanctions today as she says: 'I'm really sad that we didn't reach this agreement today. I must say that we were really close to reassuring Slovakia. The commission has delivered what they asked for. Now, the ball is in Slovakia's court, and we must get this deal done. It has been already two months. Sanctions are necessary to starve Russia of the means to wage this war, and the European Union will keep rising the cost, so stopping its aggression becomes the only path forward to Moscow.' She adds that she welcomes Trump's announcements last night, but says the EU 'would like to see the US to share the burden'. 'America and Europe are working together, and if we are working together, this can put the pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously. The only way to get Putin to end this war is to force his hand,' she said. 3.56pm CEST 15:56 Slovak prime minister Robert Fico has just publicly responded to the earlier Reuters report on the European Commission's reassurances for the country as officials seek to break the deadlock on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia. Making the letter public on Facebook, Fico said the proposal was shared with leaders of other parties and rejected as insufficient, so the country will continue to delay the adoption of the latest round of sanctions on Russia. In the letter, first reported by Reuters (14:08), European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said officials worked on 'an ambitious and comprehensive work plan with Slovakia in recognition of the particular challenges stemming from national circumstances' and commited to 'addressing the specific challenges for Slovakia.' But Fico reiterated his opposition to 'imbecile' proposal to ban Russian gas imports from 2028, but said he was ready to negotiate on further guarantees that would make the proposal work for Slovakia, saying 'the best solution' would be to grant an exception to continue the existing gas delivery contract until its scheduled end in 2034. While the gas proposal is unrelated to the sanctions package, Fico said he was linking the two to leverage Slovakia's position in the talks, as sanctions required unanimity among the member states. In the meantime, the Slovak representative at today's foreign affairs council was told to request that the vote on the sanction package be delayed, he said. Updated at 4.04pm CEST 3.40pm CEST 15:40 Sam Levin In other news, we reported earlier today on a disturbing story of an Irish tourist jailed by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for months after overstaying US visit by three days. From there, what should have been a minor incident became a nightmarish ordeal: he was detained by Ice in three different facilities, ultimately spending roughly 100 days behind bars with little understanding of why he was being held – or when he'd get out. 'Nobody is safe from the system if they get pulled into it,' said Thomas, in a recent interview from his home in Ireland, a few months after his release. Thomas asked to be identified by a nickname out of fear of facing further consequences with US immigration authorities. Despite immediately agreeing to deportation when he was first arrested, Thomas remained in Ice detention after Donald Trump took office and dramatically ramped up immigration arrests. Amid increased overcrowding in detention, Thomas was forced to spend part of his time in custody in a federal prison for criminal defendants, even though he was being held on an immigration violation. Thomas was sent back to Ireland in March and was told he was banned from entering the US for 10 years. Thomas's ordeal follows a rise in reports of tourists and visitors with valid visas being detained by Ice, including from Australia, Germany, Canada and the UK. In April, an Irish woman who is a US green card holder was also detained by Ice for 17 days due to a nearly two-decade-old criminal record. The arrests appear to be part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration, which has pushed to deport students with alleged ties to pro-Palestinian protests; sent detainees to Guantánamo Bay and an El Salvador prison without presenting evidence of criminality; deported people to South Sudan, a war-torn country where the deportees had no ties; and escalated large-scale, militarized raids across the US. Read Thomas's story here: 2.49pm CEST 14:49 Meanwhile, Swedish defence minister Pal Jonson confirmed to Reuters that the country will contribute to efforts to boost arms supplies to Ukraine following US president Donald Trump's decision to supply billions of dollars of weapons. 'We welcome the American decision to make possible increased sanctions against Russia and to pave the way for the delivery of Patriots and other weapon systems to Ukraine,' Jonson said in an emailed comment to Reuters. 'Sweden will contribute,' he added, without offering further details. 2.39pm CEST 14:39 Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has just confirmed he filed his resignation from the post, a day after president Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked his deputy, Yulia Svyrydenko, to lead the government after a reshuffle. In a Telegram message posted alongside a picture of his hand-written resignation note, he said: 'Thank you to our defenders who are holding the front and protecting Ukraine! Thank you to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust! Thank you to the entire team for their tireless work for our country! Glory to Ukraine!' Updated at 2.43pm CEST 2.17pm CEST 14:17 There is a major news story breaking in the UK about thousands of people being relocated to the UK as part of a secret £850m scheme set up after a personal data leak of Afghans who supported British forces. PA news agency reported that a dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) was released 'in error' by a defence official in February 2022. The breach resulted in the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route – in April 2024. The scheme is understood to have cost about £400m so far, with a projected cost once completed of about £850m. Millions more is expected to be paid in legal costs and compensation. You can follow live updates here:
The Herald Scotland
38 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Airline launches new route from Scotland to grand duchy
Edinburgh to Luxembourg flights are scheduled twice weekly on Friday and Monday. Listed flights which take one hour and 50 minutes start at €108 from July 3, 2026. Flights are listed. (Image: Getty Images) Thomas Fischer, Luxair chief commercial officer, told The Herald: 'We're delighted to launch direct flights between Luxembourg and [[Edinburgh]], a route we've been planning for some time as part of our growth strategy. 'With the upcoming arrival of our new Embraer E2 aircraft, we are now in a position to expand our network and respond to strong customer demand. 'This new connection not only strengthens business ties between Luxembourg and Scotland but also fosters tourism and cultural exchange. We look forward to welcoming passengers on board as of summer 2026.' The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Visit Luxembourg said: 'Discover the enchanting allure of Luxembourg, a European destination where medieval charm meets contemporary sophistication. Travellers love exploring the unique blend of historic fortresses, lush landscapes, and cosmopolitan elegance, all found in close proximity. 'From Guttland, the garden of the capital city, to the red landscapes of the industrial Minett in the south, the wild Éislek with its rugged hills, to the rocky cliffs and forests of the Mullerthal and the leafy green of the Moselle valley vineyards, Luxembourg has plenty of variety.' READ MORE: The tourist body said: 'Many visitors begin their stay in the capital where world-famous artists rub shoulders with newcomers, and old fortress walls meet modern architecture. 'Here you will find a place pulsing with energy where people exchange ideas and stories, and culture, nightlife, business and relaxation collide. City break fans are drawn to this cosmopolitan capital, but also to other towns in the country to which they can travel free of charge on Luxembourg's nationwide public transport.' A grand duchy is a country with a duke or duchess as head of state. Luxair also said on its website: 'Edinburgh effortlessly balances its weighty history with contemporary energy. The Royal Mile's weathered cobbles lead past medieval closes and modern whisky bars, while the shopfronts of Princes Street mirror the jagged skyline of the Old Town. 'By day, you can hike up Arthur's Seat for panoramas that stretch to the Firth of Forth; by evening, join the animated crowds at the [[Edinburgh]] Festival Fringe or browse the shelves of independent bookshops. Scotland's compact, hilly capital is a city where every alley holds a story waiting to be uncovered.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
The Daily T: Why has Trump changed his mind on Russia?
He was elected in 2024 promising to end the war between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours, and less than six months ago he halted the flow of military aid to Kyiv after giving President Zelensky a dressing down in the Oval Office. But Donald Trump now seems to have changed his tune on Ukraine. The President has announced that the US will resume the supply of weapons, via Nato, and also threatened 100pc tariffs on Russia if a deal isn't done. He also later told the BBC that he was 'disappointed' in Putin. Camilla and Tim speak to former economic advisor to Donald Trump, Carla Sands, who blames 'weak and flabby militaries throughout Europe' and a 'feckless' Joe Biden for the current situation in Ukraine, and believes Trump will get a deal despite Putin not being an 'honest broker'. Elsewhere, Camilla and Tim speak to Conservative MP James Cleverly, who was making a speech in Central London about countering the rise of Reform, and ask him if he's on manoeuvres for a leadership run.
