
Will the US-China ‘framework' agreement defuse trade tension?
The United States and China say they've reached in principle a framework to roll back some of the punitive measures they have taken against each other's economies.
That means Washington could ease restrictions on selling chips to China if Beijing agrees to speed up the export of rare earths.
Whether that happens depends on the approval of presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
The plan reached after talks in London marks the latest twist in a trade war that has threatened to disrupt global supply chains.
Also, what's behind the surge in Russia's rouble?
Plus, are nations choosing warfare over welfare?
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Qatar Tribune
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Iran doubles down as US signals Israel could strike during nuclear talks
agencies Tehran, Iran Iranian authorities have remained defiant amid concerns that Israel could launch an attack on Iran as the global nuclear watchdog adopts another Western-led censure resolution. Even as Oman confirmed on Thursday that it will host a sixth round of talks on Sunday between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme, reports by outlets such as The New York Times, quoting officials in the US and Europe, warned that Israel is 'ready' to attack Iran, even without military backing from Washington. Israel has long threatened to attack Iran's nuclear sites. The administration of US President Donald Trump also carried out a partial evacuation of embassy staff in Iraq and dependants of US personnel across the Middle East in a sign of escalating tension in the region. 'I don't want to say imminent, but it looks like it's something that could very well happen,' said Trump at a White House event on Thursday, commenting on the likelihood of an Israeli strike. 'We will not give in to America's coercion and bullying,' Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a televised speech in the western city of Ilam on Thursday, pointing out that Iran resisted eight years of invasion in the 1980s by neighbouring Iraq, which was backed by many foreign powers. Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), told state television that if Israel attacks, it would be met with a 'history-making' response that would go far beyond Iran's two rounds of retaliatory strikes on Israel last year. He said Iran is not 'defenceless and encircled' like Gaza, where the Israeli military has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. Speaking to a crowd in Tehran, IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani said Iran's armed forces have made significant strides in improving their attacking capabilities in the months since the previous missile barrages launched against Israel. 'If they think the axis of resistance and Iran have been weakened and then boast based on that, it is all a dream,' said the commander, who leads the external force of the IRGC, which is tasked with expanding Iran's regional influence. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, announced on Thursday that he has given the order to launch more military exercises after a series of large-scale drills were held across Iran earlier this year. After days of deliberation, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday passed a resolution to censure Iran over its advancing nuclear programme and several outstanding cases involving unexplained nuclear materials found at Iranian sites. The resolution was put forward in Vienna by the US along with France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the three European nations who are still party to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which Trump unilaterally abandoned in 2018.


Qatar Tribune
an hour ago
- Qatar Tribune
US tariffs could be launchpad for Europe's single market needs
Agencies Materials group Umicore can spend at least a month on tackling a complex array of national shipment rules only to bring electronic scrap and other waste from across the European Union to its Belgian recycling plant. The problem is not just Umicore's, as businesses across Europe grapple with internal obstacles that can be as damaging as tariffs. Analysts, however, say U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs have provided the necessary push to make the bloc the single market it aspires to be. Umicore's difficulties are particularly significant in that the company recycles 17 of the 34 minerals identified by the EU as critical for its green and digital transition. Chief Executive Bart Sap says a shipment may need to go by rail in one country, then transfer to a boat in another, with a wealth of diverse documentation along the route. 'With that ununified waste market, the internal hurdles are so high that actually 73% of waste is being exported,' he told Reuters in an interview. Diverging waste shipment regulations are one of the many internal barriers that add cost and complexity to doing business within the EU. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated EU internal barriers are the equivalent of tariffs of 44% for goods and 110% for services, well above the U.S. tariffs of 25% on steel and cars and 10% on many other goods. A similar study in 2021 concluded that barriers for goods flow within the U.S. amounted to a 13% tariff. For goods, EU barriers include restrictions on retailers' ability to source products or sell them in other EU countries and a jumble of rules on labelling. AkzoNobel, Europe's largest paint maker, complains it cannot just sell the same tub across the 27-nation bloc, placing the blame not on different languages but varying rules. These include separate recycling logos in France and Spain and some EU countries requiring air quality information. The Dutch company says it cannot fit all the necessary information on smaller tubs, and that frequent rule changes force it to keep investing in packaging updates. QR codes could be a solution, it says, something the EU will start requiring from 2027. For services, the single market is even less developed. Laws on setting up foreign subsidiaries diverge, declarations for posting workers abroad vary and 5,700 professions are regulated across the bloc, meaning doctors, nurses, engineers or accountants in one EU country cannot easily work in another. The barriers do not just add cost and complexity. They stifle Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who produced an influential report on the EU single market last year, said EU companies suffered a 'stunning size deficit' relative to rivals and that market divisions prevented them from building scale. A core problem is vested interest in sectors protecting regulated professions from competition and as national supervisors prove resistant to an EU-wide capital market that could rival U.S. investments in newer companies and infrastructure. 'These are low-hanging fruit economically, because basically they're free. It's essentially changing the regulation. But that doesn't mean they're necessarily politically easy,' said Niclas Poitiers, research fellow at think tank Bruegel. The debate on a unified capital market has dragged on for over a decade as EU members have squabbled over issues such as supervision and insolvency rules. However, a deeper single market has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have as the impact of Trump's tariffs on exports has highlighted the need to remove obstacles to compete with global rivals. The Commission says it is prioritizing removing what it calls the 'terrible ten' most harmful single market barriers, including recognition of professional qualifications and fragmented rules on labelling and waste. Letta, dean of IE University in Spain and president of the Jacques Delors Institute think tank, said he was encouraged by Commission initiatives to tackle the most critical unfulfilled parts of the single market – services and capital. They include the promotion of a savings and investment union and removing barriers to business in legislative proposals are due in 2025 and 2026. Aslak Berg, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said the Commission seemed to be serious about reforms that made a difference, but needed to get EU members on said there were two grounds for optimism. Firstly, EU capitals were aware of the need for change.


Qatar Tribune
an hour ago
- Qatar Tribune
Markets shaken as Trump threatens new unilateral tariffs
Agencies Investors were rattled on Thursday after Donald Trump said he would impose unilateral tariffs on partners in the next two weeks, reigniting trade war fears soon after reaching a deal with China to dial down tensions between the superpowers. The mood was also shaded by geopolitical concerns after the US president said personnel were being moved from the Middle East as nuclear talks with Iran faltered and fears of a regional conflict grew. The equity losses snapped a recent rally fueled by talks between Beijing and Washington in London that saw them hammer out a framework agreement to move towards a pact to reduce levies. Investors have been on edge since Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff blitz on April 2 that sent shockwaves through stock and bond markets and stoked global recession fears. Days later he announced a pause in those measures until July 9 to allow for countries to cut deals with the White House, sparking relief rallies that have pushed some markets towards all-time highs. However, he once again shook confidence by saying on Wednesday that he intended to send letters telling governments what levies Washington would be imposing. 'We're going to be sending letters out in about a week-and-a-half, two weeks, to countries, telling them what the deal is,' he told reporters. 'At a certain point, we're just going to send letters out. And I think you understand that, saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it.' While some analysts indicated that previous threats had been rowed back, the comments added to the ongoing uncertainty about Trump's policies, reviving fears about sky-high levies and the impact on the economy. They also came not long after he had flagged the London agreement, and posted on social media that 'President Xi and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade', referring to his counterpart Xi Jinping. Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management said: 'Whether this is a hardball negotiation tactic or a pressure valve reset ahead of another 90-day extension is anyone's guess—but traders are reading it as another layer of headline risk. 'The market knows the Trump playbook: bark, delay, then deal. But the closer we get to the cliff's edge, the more likely someone slips.' Most Asian markets fell on Thursday, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Wellington, Sydney, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta in the red after a broadly healthy run-up this week. London was flat as data showed the UK economy shrank more than expected in April, while Paris and Frankfurt fell. There were gains in Singapore, Seoul and Wellington. Shanghai was barely moved. The weak performance followed losses on Wall Street, where trade worries overshadowed another below-forecast inflation reading that provided fresh speculation the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Oil prices slipped more than one percent after Wednesday's surge that came after Trump said US personnel were being moved from the potentially 'dangerous' Middle East as Iran nuclear talks stutter. The move came as Tehran threatened to target US military bases in the region if a regional conflict broke out. The US president said the staff were 'being moved out because it could be a dangerous place'. 'We've given notice to move out and we'll see what happens.' With regard to Iran, he added: 'They can't have a nuclear weapon, very simple. We're not going to allow that.' Trump had until recently expressed optimism about the talks, but said in an interview published on Wednesday that he was 'less confident'.