
European shares subdued as investors brace for Trump's tariff deadline
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab was flat at 541.15 points, as of 0835 GMT.
Other major regional indexes were mixed, with Germany's DAX (.GDAXI), opens new tab up 0.4%, while France's CAC 40 (.FCHI), opens new tab, Spain's IBEX (.IBEX), opens new tab, and the UK's FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab each fell 0.1%.
President Trump said on Sunday, the U.S. is close to finalising several trade agreements in the coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff rates by July 9. The new rates are set to take effect from August 1.
He also said the U.S. will send letters to 12 countries on Monday, detailing the different tariff levels they will face on goods they export to the U.S.
"Trade deals have taken years to agree...suddenly the U.S. is trying to negotiate so many deals in three months. It will be surprising if they get proper long-lasting deals signed very quickly", said Andrew Lapping, Chief Investment Officer at Ranmore Fund Management.
Meanwhile, Trump threatened an extra 10% tariff on countries aligning themselves with the "anti-American policies" of the BRICS group of developing nations.
He added to the confusion by mentioning that some tariffs could reach up to 70% levels far higher than the 10%-50% range he announced in April.
"Trump is in a teasing mood, hinting that more deals will be inked in the coming days....investors are bracing for another burst of volatility, as another cloud of unpredictability descends.", said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown in a note.
Meanwhile, a White House official said on Friday that U.S. trade talks with the European Union were ongoing, and there was optimism that an agreement could be reached in the near future.
European energy (.SXEP), opens new tab stocks fell 1.6%, tracking lower oil prices —meanwhile, insurance (.SXIP), opens new tab stocks were up 0.8%.
Among individual stocks, Shell fell 3% after the energy major trimmed its second-quarter gas, LNG output outlook and guided for weaker trading results in a quarterly update ahead of full results.
Capgemini (CAPP.PA), opens new tab fell 4.1% after the French IT services firm agreed to buy technology outsourcing company WNS (WNS.N), opens new tab for a cash payment of $3.3 billion.
China's finance ministry said on Sunday it would restrict government purchases of medical devices from the EU that exceed 45 million yuan ($6.3 million) in value, in retaliation for Brussels' curbs last month.
Carl Zeiss Meditec (AFXG.DE), opens new tab and Merck Kgaa (MRCG.DE), opens new tab fell 1.7% and 2.1%, respectively, following China's reciprocal curbs on EU medical devices.
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The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Billionaire Labour backer John Caudwell ‘nervous' about Starmer
Labour's most high-profile billionaire backer, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, has said he is 'increasingly nervous' about the government's direction and is in 'despair of politicians'. John Caudwell, the Phones 4u founder, said Labour's winter fuel payments cut was a 'fiasco' and ministers were not doing nearly enough to attract investment into the UK. Speaking to the Guardian, Caudwell, who has pledged to give away more than 70% of his £1.58bn fortune, said a wealth tax would be 'very destructive' to growth. The businessman – a prominent Brexiter who backed the Conservative party for many years – said he could never support Nigel Farage's Reform UK because he was convinced of the need to tackle the climate crisis and urged Labour to be bolder on net zero. Caudwell was speaking at the launch of a new report from his charity Caudwell Youth, urging more investment in early intervention in the lives of disadvantaged young people – and a renewed focus on mental health. He said despite his own background in mobile phones, he believed social media and AI were a 'disaster' for anxiety and feared a world where AI fakes were the norm. Caudwell said he welcomed some key changes from Labour, including to pension funds, planning changes and green energy, though he said schemes such as Great British Energy could go further and were 'lacking in ambition'. He said Labour had been poor at telling the right story and the winter fuel saga and the welfare rebellion had been unnerving. 'They're just going to be tossed from pillar to post, that's how it feels,' he said. He added: 'I am becoming increasingly nervous about what Labour are doing and especially when they get into this mess over the welfare bill because it feels as though there's anarchy within the party.' Caudwell said he had repeatedly offered advice to Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, but had not received much interest in his ideas. 'There seems to be a lack of that commercial intellect that we desperately need in government to make long-term right decisions,' he said. He said he knew many wealthy individuals and business owners moving to Dubai or Monaco, and that the UK needed to become a more attractive place to invest. 'I despair of politicians in general,' Caudwell said. 'You've got to attract inward investment to create high-paid jobs and in technology, sciences and especially in the environment – since that's going to be the absolute future of mankind. 'There's so much we need to do and there's so little we do, and that was the Conservative party before and now it's the Labour party.' Caudwell said he did not regret switching his allegiance from the Conservatives, having previously donated £500,000 to them under Boris Johnson. 'I don't regret it. But do I regret some of the decisions they've made? Absolutely I do. And I think they could have done so much better,' he said. Senior Labour figures have suggested the party should introduce a wealth tax on rich people in the budget. The former Labour leader Neil Kinnock suggested on Sunday it was under serious consideration, saying a gesture 'in the direction of equity fairness would make a big difference'. But Caudwell said a wealth tax combined with other measures Labour had introduced would be a major disincentive for investors – even if he would personally be happy to pay. 'I would be very in favour of a wealth tax if it was global,' he said. 'The rich-poor divide is the evil of society and how do we fix that?' But he said that changes to agricultural property relief, changes to workers' rights, increases to the minimum wage and employers' national insurance was creating a more difficult climate for business. 'I think you can do some of those things, but you just can't do everything,' he said. 'You introduce a wealth tax on top of that and it just isn't going to work. I know people that are leaving as we speak. They're going to Monaco, they're going to Dubai. 'I bet 10 people in the last three or four months have said, 'Why don't you go to Dubai?' Well, I don't want to go to Dubai, I'm British, I love it here. I don't mind paying my taxes. 'I want to influence rich people to do more philanthropically and to pay taxes. A wealth tax would be very destructive on top. I don't say that because I'm trying to protect my money – because I'm giving it away.' Caudwell said Starmer should be bolder in his second year as prime minister. 'I'd be a bit like a Trump, who's smart and who's humanitarian. And I'd force things through. You wouldn't do any of the same things [as Trump], but it is what we need.' The businessman has previously been a guest of Farage on GB News and said the pair agreed on a lot of topics. But he ruled out backing Reform, calling Farage a 'climate sceptic' and said it was 'the most crucial thing we're facing'. 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The Independent
34 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump claims he struck side deal with Skydance for additional $16 million in ‘60 Minutes' settlement
Donald Trump all but confirmed a report that he struck a 'side deal' with the soon-to-be owners of Paramount over the 60 Minutes lawsuit, claiming that Skydance Media's supposed promise to run public service ads in support of the president would place the settlement amount at roughly $35 million. In a long-expected but still heavily denounced capitulation to the president, Paramount – which is finalizing an $8 billion mega-merger with Skydance that needs the Trump administration's approval – agreed to pay Trump's future presidential library $16 million (minus legal fees) to settle his lawsuit against CBS News that the network's own lawyers called 'meritless.' While Paramount specified that the settlement didn't include any apology for the interview with Kamala Harris at the center of the 'frivolous' complaint, nor was any money paid directly to the president, Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino soon reported that Skydance owner David Ellison – son of Trump-backing billionaire Larry Ellison – added a secret sweetener to the agreement. According to Gasparino, the younger Ellison – who now expects to take over Paramount and CBS within the next few weeks – agreed to 'run between $15 million and $20 million of public service ads to promote causes supported by the president' once the merger is complete. 'Paramount knows nothing about the alleged side deal between Trump\Ellison, had absolutely nothing to do with it, nor was it a part of what the board approved, and the mediator sanctioned,' a spokesperson for Paramount said about the reportedly clandestine pact. Of course, Paramount denying knowledge of the secret deal appears to be the entire point of the exercise – which allows the president an even bigger haul from a 'baseless' case that most legal experts said would likely get thrown out of court in the end. Additionally, as Gasparino observed, Ellison's promise to Trump could help Paramount avoid allegations of bribery as the deal was made without their knowledge. Democratic lawmakers and free press advocates have already promised congressional hearings, criminal probes and civil lawsuits on behalf of shareholders. Paramount executives had expressed concerns for months that any large settlement could place the company's board in legal peril for violating anti-bribery statutes, especially as chairwoman Shari Redstone – who was a driving force behind the settlement – looks to clear $2 billion with the merger. Speaking to reporters on early Friday morning following a speech at an Iowa rally, Trump was asked about the recent settlement with Paramount and CBS – and he effectively confirmed Gasparino's reporting. 'We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million, or maybe more than that, in advertising... It's like $32 to maybe $35 million,' the president boasted. Trump also heaped praise on both Eillsons, gushing over his 'friend' Larry. 'I think he's going to run CBS really well, and I think he's making a good deal to buy it. I think he's great,' the president declared to the press pool before adding about David: 'He's got a son who's a fantastic young man too.' At the same time, he insisted – much like Paramount and his hand-picked FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who will have final say on approving the merger – that the lawsuit settlement was completely unrelated to Skydance's pending acquisition of Paramount. Meanwhile, a week before the settlement was announced, it was reported that David Ellison was bragging to his Hollywood friends that the lawsuit would be settled soon and struck an upbeat tone about the negotiations. Despite the president's claim over the weekend, there are still some conflicting accounts about the handshake deal with the younger Ellison and whether it will be honored. 'The president's claim that the settlement is worth anything more than the announced $16 million figure is false, according to a source familiar with the situation,' Variety reported. 'Neither Paramount nor Skydance Media has agreed to grant free advertising airtime to Trump, the source said.' Representatives for Skydance Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Still, whether CBS will be running millions of dollars of pro-Trump ads or not after Skydance takes over, the fear within the newsroom – which has been roiled in turmoil for months over the Trump litigation and Paramount's surrender to the president – over the new corporate ownership is palpable.


The Independent
34 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump threatens 25% tax on Japanese and South Korean imports starting August 1
President Donald Trump has told the Japanese and South Korean heads of government that he will force Americans to pay a 25 percent import tax on all goods imported from their respective countries starting August 1. In a pair of letters addressed to Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Trump falsely claimed that United States would 'charge' each country 'a tariff of only 25 percent' on 'any and all ... products sent into the United States, separate from all Sectoral Tariffs.' The president described his threatening letter as an invitation for each country, already an important ally and trading partner for America, to 'participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States, the Number One Market in the World, by far.' 'We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship ... and have concluded that we must move away from these longterm, and very persistent, Trade Deficits engendered by ... Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers. Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal,' he said. Trump frequently claims tariffs are paid by foreign governments even though they are import taxes charged by the federal government and paid by importers who often pass them along to consumers in the form of higher prices. He added that any retaliatory tariffs imposed by either government would result in equal amounts added to the import taxes paid by Americans. The president claimed that the 25 percent being charged on Japanese and South Korean imports is 'far less than what is needed to eliminate the Trade Deficit disparity we have with your Country' and suggested that both governments — or companies in both countries — could avoid having their products taxed by deciding to 'build or manufacture product within the United States.' He added that his administration would do 'everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely — In other words, in a matter of weeks' to allow companies to build facilities for manufacturing within the U.S. even though that process and the investment required to do so often takes years. 'Please understand that these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of ... Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States. This Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!' he said. Trump also claimed that he might revisit the 25 percent tax if either country would 'open your heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, and eliminate your Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.' 'These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country. You will never be disappointed with The United States of America,' he added.