European leaders push Brussels for progress in trade talks with US
From the show
Countries including Italy, Ireland and France want the EU to fast-track negotiations with the Trump administration to avoid US tariffs. The ASEAN group of SE Asian nations meets with China and the Gulf Cooperation Council in a bid to hedge against growing trade uncertainty. And, France makes arrests after a series of violent kidnapping aimed at extorting cryptocurrency moguls.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
25 minutes ago
- LeMonde
EU secures lower US car tariffs in new trade deal, but fails to protect wine
Details of a US-EU trade deal published on Thursday, August 21, showed Brussels secured a tariff reduction for cars exported to the United States but failed to win a reprieve for its cherished wine sector. US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15% US levy. However, many aspects remained unclear, as the European Union sought to win carve-outs for some sectors and Trump threatened higher tariffs on others. A joint statement on Thursday brought some clarity, although negotiations are not over, as the EU said it would seek more tariff reductions. The "maximum, all-inclusive" 15% rate would apply to the vast majority of European exports, including cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, the EU said. "This is the most favorable trade deal the US has extended to any partner," EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a press conference in Brussels, explaining the levy will not come on top of existing tariffs. In recent weeks, Trump has raised the possibility of additional tariffs targeting specific sectors such as pharmaceuticals, which account for 20% of the EU's exports to the United States, and semiconductors. Bison and wine Sefcovic said he was confident that the rate for cars, which is lower than the current 27.5%, will apply retroactively from August 1, having received assurances on the matter from his US counterpart. However, this will happen only once the EU introduces legislation to eliminate its own tariffs on US industrial products, something Sefcovic said the commission was "working very hard" on. The 15% rate will also apply to wine and spirits despite a push by France, Italy and other wine-making countries to win a zero tariff exemption. "Unfortunately, here we didn't succeed," Sefcovic said, adding negotiations would continue. "These doors are not closed forever." The French wine exporters federation said it was "hugely disappointed." "We are certain that this will create major difficulties for the wines and spirits sector," said Gabriel Picard, the head of the wine and spirits federation FEVS. Christophe Chateau, a spokesperson for a group representing Bordeaux wine producers, described this as "bad news" – but better than the worst-case scenario, with Trump who had at one point threatened tariffs as high as 200%. "It further hinders the trade and export of Bordeaux wines to the United States," which is by far their largest market, Chateau told Agence France-Presse. French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said his government would seek "additional exemptions" in the trade deal. Under the agreement, the EU committed to significantly improving market access to a range of US seafood and agricultural goods, including tree nuts, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, pork and bison meat. On the other hand, a special more favorable regime will apply as of September 1 to a number of EU exports to the US, including "unavailable natural resources" such as cork, aircraft parts and generic pharmaceuticals. These would effectively face a "zero or close to zero" rate, the commission said. "This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential," said von der Leyen.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
EU gets 15% US tariff for cars, fails to secure wine reprieve
US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15-percent US levy. But many aspects remained unclear, as the EU sought to win carve-outs for some sectors and Trump threatened higher tariffs on others. A joint statement Thursday brought some clarity, although negotiations are not over as the EU said it would seek more tariff reductions. The "maximum, all-inclusive" 15-percent rate would apply to the vast majority of European exports, including cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, the EU said. "This is the most favourable trade deal the US has extended to any partner," EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a press conference in Brussels, explaining the levy will not come on top of existing tariffs. In recent weeks Trump had raised the possibility of additional tariffs hitting certain sectors such as pharmaceuticals, which account for 20 percent of the EU's exports to the United States, and semiconductors. Bison and wine Sefcovic said he was confident that the rate for cars, which is lower than the current 27.5 percent, will apply retroactively from August 1, having received assurances on the matter from his US counterpart. But this will happen only once the EU introduces legislation to eliminate its own tariffs on US industrial products, something Sefcovic said the commission was "working very hard" on. The 15-percent rate will also apply to wine and spirits despite a push by France, Italy and other wine-making countries to win a zero tariff exemption. "Unfortunately, here we didn't succeed," Sefcovic said, adding negotiations would continue. "These doors are not closed forever". The French wine exporters federation said it was "hugely disappointed". "We are certain that this will create major difficulties for the wines and spirits sector," said the head of the wine and spirits federation FEVS Gabriel Picard. Christophe Chateau, a spokesman for a group representing Bordeaux wine producers, described this as "bad news" -- but better than the worst case scenario, with Trump that had at one point threatened tariffs as high as 200 percent. "It further hinders the trade and export of Bordeaux wines to the United States," which is by far their largest market, Chateau told AFP. French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said his government would seek "additional exemptions" in the trade deal. Under the agreement, the EU committed to significantly improving market access to a range of US seafood and agricultural goods, including tree nuts, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, pork and bison meat. These would effectively face a "zero or close to zero" rate, the commission said. "This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential," said commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Walmart lifts outlook for sales, earnings despite tariffs
Walmart is among major retailers reporting their financial results this week, with markets keeping close tabs on consumer patterns -- and signs of price increases -- as tariffs bite. The company topped analysts' quarterly sales estimates, with revenues for the three months ending July 31 at $177.4 billion, up 4.8 percent from the same period a year ago. But it missed earnings expectations with adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) at 68 cents, lower than anticipated. US companies have been squeezed in recent months as tariffs raised the costs of importing certain foreign goods, although many mitigated the blow to consumers by bulking up on inventory before Trump introduced the new levies. The overall impact on US consumer prices appears limited for now but economists are closely monitoring the pass-through of costs to gauge if the inflation hit will be one-off or if there will be lingering effects. In its second quarter results released Thursday, Walmart raised its outlook, anticipating net sales to rise between 3.75 percent and 4.75 percent for the fiscal year, up from earlier expectations of 3.0 percent to 4.0 percent. It also raised its adjusted EPS outlook to a range of $2.52 to $2.62, up from $2.50 to $2.60 per share before. Walmart shares fell more than 3.4 percent in pre-market trading. Among segments, its global e-commerce sales rose 25 percent. Walmart noted that net sales growth internationally was boosted by segments including China, Mexico and Central America. E-commerce sales were up 26 percent for the United States, Walmart said in its report. Sales through store-fulfilled delivery channels grew nearly 50 percent, the company added. It noted strong sales growth as well in grocery, alongside health and wellness. Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed a 10-percent tariff on goods from most trading partners. Earlier this month, the 10-percent rate rose to varying levels for dozens of economies including the EU, Japan and South Korea, even as several had struck deals to avert even steeper levies. In May, Walmart warned of price increases due to higher tariffs, saying it might not be able to absorb all the additional pressures. In an earnings presentation released Thursday, Walmart maintained that it had "strong inventory management," but that there were also higher costs for imported goods. © 2025 AFP
