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Asharq Al-Awsat
4 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
EU Approves Counter-tariffs on US Goods, Says Trade Deal within Reach
The European Commission said on Thursday a negotiated trade solution with the United States is within reach - while EU members voted to approve counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of US goods in case the talks collapse. The 27-nation bloc's executive has repeatedly said its primary focus is on reaching a deal to avert 30% US tariffs that US President Donald Trump has said he will apply on August 1. "Our focus is on finding a negotiated outcome with the US ... We believe such an outcome is within reach," an EU spokesperson said in response to reporters' questions, Reuters reported. Alongside negotiations, the Commission has pressed on with plans for potential countermeasures, merging two packages of proposed tariffs of 21 billion euros and 72 billion euros into a single list and submitting this to EU members for approval. The rate would be up to 30%, designed to mirror US tariffs, EU sources said. Diplomats said EU countries overwhelmingly approved the measures on Thursday, which the Commission later confirmed. The first package of countermeasures would enter force on August 7, with tariffs on soybeans and almonds delayed until December 1, an EU official said. The second package would enter force in two stages on September 7 and February 7. So far the EU has held back from imposing any countermeasures, despite Trump's tariffs already covering 70% of EU exports. EU member states authorised the first package of countermeasures in April, but these were immediately suspended to allow time for negotiations. CLOSING ON DEAL The EU and United States now appear to be heading towards a possible trade deal, according to EU diplomats, which would result in a broad 15% tariff on EU goods imported into the US, mirroring a framework agreement Washington struck with Japan. Trump would still need to take any final decision. The White House said discussions of a deal should be considered "speculation". Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told Bloomberg News the report from the EU should be taken with "a grain of salt." French Finance Minister Eric Lombard and Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told a joint press conference in Paris they were not aware of a draft agreement, Urso adding he would only pass judgment when one was reached. There was little information available about what the EU would offer the United States to secure a deal. One EU diplomat said the bloc was not looking at a pledge of investment in the United States, as Japan has agreed. Another said the EU might reduce some of its own duties. Its current import duty for cars is 10%. Under the outlines of the potential deal, the 15% rate could apply to sectors including cars and pharmaceuticals and would not be added to long-standing US duties, which average just under 5%. There could also be exemptions for sectors such as aircraft, lumber as well as some medicines and agricultural products, which would not face tariffs, diplomats said. Washington does not, however, appear willing to lower its 50% tariff on steel.
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Trump tariffs would hit Hungary hard despite warm relations with MAGA-friendly Orbán
BUDAPEST: Hungary's populist prime minister has spent years building a close political relationship with US President Donald Trump and aligning himself with the MAGA movement. But despite Viktor Orbán's success in gaining favor with the culturally conservative and nationalist wing of Trump's administration, his country is poised to be among those hard hit by Trump's tariffs against the European Union. Trump earlier this month announced he would levy tariffs of 30 percent against Mexico and the EU beginning Aug. 1 — a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and the 27-member EU, of which Hungary is a member. As a small, export-oriented economy with major automobile, pharmaceutical and wine industries — some of the main categories of products Europe exports to the US — Hungary will be particularly vulnerable to Trump's tariffs. The duties 'would put the Hungarian economy in a very, very difficult situation, because then the entire possibility for Hungary to export to America would be essentially eliminated,' Péter Virovácz, chief analyst at ING Hungary, told The Associated Press. 'Not the best way to make money' Hungary's largest trading partners are other EU countries like Germany, Italy and Romania, as well as China, but many Hungarian companies export their goods across the Atlantic. Outgoing trade to the United States represents around 15 percent of all Hungarian exports to countries outside the EU. One such enterprise, a Budapest-based company specializing in Hungarian wine, said it will likely cease doing business in the US altogether if the 30 percent duty is levied on its products. 'If it's really going to be 30 percent, then there is no more shipment ... We might just call it a day at the end of the year,' said Gábor Bánfalvi, co-owner of Taste Hungary. Bánfalvi's company has been shipping around 10,000 bottles of premium Hungarian wine per year to the US for about half a decade. With a base in Washington D.C., it exports a range of red and white wines to clients in numerous US states including specialty wine shops and bars. Until now, 'it's been a thin profit margin, but it's been fine because we want Hungarian wine to be available' to US consumers, Bánfalvi said. 'Then came 2025,' he said. When Trump began imposing tariffs on EU exports earlier this year, the cost of Taste Hungary's shipments tripled, Bánfalvi said — price hikes he had to build into the sticker price of the wine. The imposition of 30 percent tariffs would make exporting 'unsustainable.' 'You just start to think, why are we doing this? Is it really worth it? It's just not the best way to make money,' he said. In total, the value of EU-US trade in goods and services in 2024 amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion.) Doubts that political ties could soften the blow Hungary's government, a vocal proponent of Trump's 'patriotic' foreign policy prioritizing national interests, has acknowledged that the tariffs would present a challenge. But, careful not to criticize the Trump administration, it has instead blamed the EU, a frequent target of Orbán's scorn, for failing to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with Washington. Confident that his right-wing populist policies would help win him favor with Trump's administration, Orbán said in an interview in April that while tariffs 'will be a disadvantage,' his government was negotiating 'other economic agreements and issues that will offset them.' But Péter Krekó, director of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, expressed doubt that political affinities could play a meaningful role in mitigating damage to Hungary's economy caused by Trump's trade policy. 'The unquestionably good bilateral relations simply cannot compensate for the trade conflicts between the EU and the US, and as a consequence, Hungary will suffer the tariffs the same way that the EU will,' Krekó said. 'Mutual nationalisms cannot be coordinated in a way that it is going to be a win-win situation.' Car manufacturing and pharmaceuticals Virovácz, the economist, pointed out that Hungary is home to numerous automobile factories for major automakers like Audi and Mercedes. The manufacturing of cars and motor vehicle parts represents an 'overwhelming majority' of the country's total exports, he said. Pharmaceuticals make up an even larger share of Hungarian exports to the United States — an industry on which Trump this month threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs. That 'will essentially kill European and thus Hungarian exports to America,' Virovácz said. 'It's impossible for tariffs to be levied on EU products but not on Hungarian ones,' he said. 'A theoretical option is that Trump could somehow compensate Hungary because he's on good terms with the Hungarian political leadership, but if that only starts happening now, it's way too late.' Krekó, the political analyst, said Trump's administration 'gives practically nothing for free. If Hungary ... cannot fulfill the interests of the US, then I think Hungary is not going to receive gifts.' 'Hungary just doesn't have the cards, to use Trump's terminology,' he added.
Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Greece warns Turkey over EU defense scheme
Greece has warned Turkey that it may block Turkish access to a European Union defense fund unless Ankara guarantees that the weapons will not be used to target Athens. There are historic tensions between EU member Greece and neighbouring Turkey over sovereignty rights in the Aegean Sea and, more recently, over energy exploration and migration. Turkey, which is a member of NATO but not the EU, is technically eligible to access EU defense industry financing and joint procurement programmes as part of the bloc's 150-billion-euro ($176-billion) Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative. But Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Wednesday that his country would not allow Turkey to take part in the defense scheme if it continued to threaten war against Greece and question its sovereignty in the Aegean Sea. 'Greece will not allow it,' the conservative leader told Skai TV. Turkey maintains a longstanding threat of war should Greece unilaterally expand its territorial waters in the Aegean. Mitsotakis pointed out that all 27 EU members would have to agree before Turkey could access SAFE funds. 'Unanimity is required,' he stressed. His comments came hours after Germany said it had approved the delivery of Eurofighter jets to Turkey. Turkey had been in talks for several years on buying 40 of the aircraft, which are constructed by a consortium from Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain. Conditions The Typhoon jets are to be built in Britain and London is leading the negotiations. All members of the consortium must sign off on the sale and Germany, which has clashed with Turkey over Israel's war on Gaza, had objected until now. After Germany gave the green light to the sale, the Turkish and British defense ministers signed a preliminary agreement in Istanbul on Wednesday for the delivery of the jets. Mitsotakis said that while Greece could, if deemed necessary, block Turkey from accessing SAFE funds, it could not actually prevent the Eurofighter deal. It could, however, set conditions. 'Turkey is a large country with a strong defense industry,' he said. 'And if someone believes they can block any purchase of defense equipment by Turkey, they are deeply ignorant. It has never happened. It cannot happen. 'What can happen, however, is that we make our European allies aware that there will be contingencies and conditions regarding the way these aircraft will be delivered, potentially used and supported in the future,' he said. The EU has launched a raft of initiatives aimed at raising up to 800 billion euros to help member countries bolster their defenses. SAFE is a 150-billion-euro financing package designed to strengthen European defense capabilities and reduce dependence on NATO and the United States. The scheme offers low-interest loans for procurement and can include third countries with whom the EU has a security and defense partnership, such as Turkey.
