Solar Energy Rollout Across EU Slows as Subsidies Are Cut
A report by SolarPower Europe says that the industry on the continent is set for its first year-on-year slowdown in more than a decade.
The European Union's solar energy program is bound for its first annual slowdown in more than a decade, according to industry data released on Thursday.
The trend mirrors shifting political priorities across the 27-nation bloc as some countries scale back green measures or find their ability to sustain clean energy projects is stretched due to spending on defense and local industries.
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33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
8x8, Monday.com, Confluent, ON24, and Dayforce Shares Plummet, What You Need To Know
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36 minutes ago
What consumers can expect from import taxes as the US sets new tariff rates
It's been almost 100 years since the U.S. had tariffs at the level they could reach next Friday. Once President Donald Trump's planned tariffs take effect, Americans will see an average tax of 18.3% for imported products, the highest rate since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale, a non-partisan policy research center. Late Thursday, Trump ordered new tariff rates for 66 countries, the European Union, Taiwan and the Falkland Islands. Among them: a 40% tariff on imports from Laos, a 39% tariff on goods from Switzerland and a 30% tariff on South African products. Other trade partners, such as Cambodia and Bangladesh, had the tax rates on their exports to the U.S. reduced from levels the president had threatened to impose. Trump postponed the start date for all of the changes from Friday until Aug. 7. Tariffs are a tax, and U.S. consumers are likely to foot at least part of the bill. The Budget Lab estimated that prices will increase 1.8% in the short term as a result of the trade war the U.S. waged this year. That's the equivalent of a $2,400 loss of income per U.S. household, the group said. Companies are dealing with tariffs in various ways. Many automakers appear to be swallowing tariff costs for now. But the world's largest eyewear maker, EssilorLuxottica, said it raised U.S. prices due to tariffs. The maker of Ray-Bans grinds lenses and sunglasses in Mexico, Thailand and China and exports premium frames from Italy. 'Retailers have been able to hold the line on pricing so far, but the new tariffs will impact merchandise in the coming weeks,' David French, chief lobbyist for the National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group, said Friday. 'We have heard directly from small retailers who are concerned about their ability to stay in business in the face of these unsustainable tariff rates." Here's what we know about the tariffs and what their impact will be on U.S. consumers: Trump unveiled sweeping import taxes on goods coming into the U.S. from nearly every country in April. He said the 'reciprocal' tariffs were meant to boost domestic manufacturing and restore fairness to global trade. The president paused the country-specific tariffs a week later but applied a 10% tax to most imports. In early July, he began notifying countries that the higher tariffs would go into effect Aug. 1 unless they reached trade deals. In announcing the new rates for dozens of countries on Thursday, Trump delayed their implementation until Aug. 7. In the meantime, he announced a 35% tariff on imports from Canada would take effect Friday. But Trump delayed action on Mexico and China while negotiations continue. Other duties not specific to countries also remained in place Friday, like a 50% tariff on imported aluminum and steel announced in June. The Trump administration reached deals with the European Union, Japan and South Korea that put 15% tariffs in place. A deal with the Philippines puts 19% tariffs in place while a deal with Vietnam imposes a 20% levy. This week, Trump announced a 25% tariff on goods from India and ordered a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil. The U.S. Court of International Trade, a federal court that specializes in trade disputes, ruled in May that Trump exceeded his authority when he invoked an emergency powers law to implement tariffs. On Thursday, an 11-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals considered the case, and judges expressed skepticism that Trump could impose tariffs without congressional approval. The case is expected to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday that prices rose 2.6% in June, up from an annual pace of 2.4% in May and higher than the Federal Reserve's goal of 2%. Furniture, computers and other items that often come from abroad were among the categories with higher average prices. Wendong Zhang, an associate professor in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, said U.S. consumers could see prices increases in the coming months for appliances and other products that contain a large amount of steel and aluminum. But Zhang said a 15% tariff doesn't mean prices will immediately rise by 15%. Companies were aware of the tariff deadlines, and tried to stockpile goods and take other measures to mitigate the impacts, he said. Zhang noted that Trump's trade deals often contain specific provisions designed to boost U.S. exports. The agreement with the European Union, for example, calls for European companies to purchase $750 billion worth of natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel from the U.S. over three years. Some U.S. farmers could also see a potential upside, Zhang said. As part of its trade deal, Vietnam agreed to purchase $2 billion in U.S. agricultural products over three years, including corn, wheat and soybeans, according to the International Trade Council. But Zhang cautioned that agricultural agreements tend to be short-lived. Over the longer term, the uncertainty over tariffs could cause countries like China to back away from U.S. agricultural markets, he said. The tariffs will almost certainly result in higher food prices, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. The U.S. simply doesn't make enough of some products, like bananas or coffee, to satisfy demand. Fish, beer and liquor are also likely to get more expensive, the foundation said. Ben Aneff, managing partner at Tribeca Wine Merchants and president of the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance, said shoppers would see prices rise 20% to 25% at his store and others starting Friday because of tariffs and the declining value of the dollar. 'Nobody can afford to eat the tariff. It gets passed on," Aneff said. Aneff said shoppers haven't felt the impact from higher duties until now because distributors and retailers accelerated shipments from France and other European Union countries earlier in the year. But with the EU's tariff rate set to go up to 15% in a week, Aneff expects European wine prices to jump 30% in September. Ninety-seven percent of clothing and shoes sold in the U.S. are imported, primarily from Asia, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association said. China leads the pack, but companies have been shifting more of their sourcing to Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Steve Lamar, the trade group's president and CEO, declined to estimate how much apparel and footwear prices may increase due to tariffs. But companies may offer fewer discounts or drop products starting this fall because they're too expensive to produce, he said. Matt Priest, president and CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, estimates prices for shoes are starting to go up for the back-to-school shopping season. He estimates price increases in the 5% to 10% range. Some automakers have already raised prices to counteract tariffs. Luxury sports car maker Ferrari said Thursday it was waiting for more details of Trump's trade deal with the European Union before scaling back a 10% surcharge it put in place in April on most vehicles in the U.S. But for the most part, automakers haven't raised prices as they waited for details. Kelley Blue Book, which monitors car pricing, said the average U.S. new car cost $48,907 in June, which was up just $108 from May. But that could change. General Motors said last week that the impact of the tariffs could get more pronounced in the third quarter of the year. GM has estimated that the tariffs will cost it $4 billion to $5 billion this year.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
European Banks Weather Stress Test Simulating Trade Shock
(Bloomberg) -- European banks weathered a simulation of the potential impact of major international trade shocks, underscoring their ability to continue paying dividends and buying back shares. The World's Data Center Capital Has Residents Surrounded An Abandoned Art-Deco Landmark in Buffalo Awaits Revival We Should All Be Biking Along the Beach Budapest's Most Historic Site Gets a Controversial Rebuild San Francisco in Talks With Vanderbilt for Downtown Campus On aggregate, the 64 lenders in the stress test saw their main capital ratio slide by 3.7 percentage points to 12.1% under an adverse scenario, the European Banking Authority said in a statement on Friday. That's less than the 4.59 percentage-point hit in the last exam two years ago, which featured more banks. Stress tests are a key tool for ensuring the banking industry is sufficiently resilient, so as to avoid a repeat of the costly bailouts by taxpayers seen in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. While the EBA said its scenario is unlikely to unfold, the results come as investors seek to assess lenders' risks in the face of far-reaching changes to the global tariff regime during Donald Trump's second term as US president. The test simulates a deep economic retrenchment, yet banks benefited from a revenue bump from higher interest rates that bolstered their balance sheets. Lenders are likely to use the results for lobbying regulators to maintain, or even increase, payouts. Most of Europe's major banks saw a smaller erosion of their common equity Tier 1 ratio than in the last exam. Deutsche Bank AG saw its hit narrow to 3.78 percentage points from 5.28 percentage points, while the impact at BNP Paribas SA narrowed to 2.79 percentage points from 3.92 percentage points. Banco Santander SA saw its depletion widen slightly to 1.87 percentage points from 1.7 percentage points. Adequate Capital Despite €547 billion ($633 billion) of combined losses, banks maintained 'strong' capital positions in the test and their ability to support the economy, the EBA said. While that's 'reassuring,' it's essential for banks to maintain 'adequate capital,' the regulator said. The EBA said 17 banks would see their capital ratios fall in the test to levels that would call for them to restrict shareholder payouts or staff bonuses. Holding back those funds would bolster their financial strength. The test's adverse scenario reflects a hypothetical escalation of geopolitical tensions with fragmenting trade and rising tariffs. That causes higher energy and commodity prices, supply chain disruptions and a 6.3% contraction in real economic output over three years in the European Union. The White House on Thursday released adjusted reciprocal tariff rates covering imports from a range of trading partners, aimed at narrowing trade deficits and raising revenues. Europe is gradually applying tough new capital rules by 2033, which if introduced in full at the start of the test would lower the banks' aggregate capital ratio by almost 1.3 percentage points, the EBA said. Notably, Deutsche Bank would see its starting point reduced by almost 4 percentage points, the EBA's report showed. Sufficient Reserves The test doesn't have a pass or fail grade. However, regulators such as the European Central Bank use the results to set individual capital demands and review banks' plans to maintain sufficient levels of financial reserves, including the effect of shareholder payouts. The impact of the test on dividends and buybacks can give banks an incentive to make optimistic assumptions. To counter this, the ECB warned lenders earlier that it would conduct inspections at their premises if their projections were overly rosy. The ECB said it conducted 'short-term on-site visits' at banks during its so-called quality assurance process. Selected lenders now face more in-depth inspections focusing on their stress testing capabilities, it said in a statement on Friday. Bloomberg News has reported that some bankers are unhappy because they have the impression that the ECB wants to generate a specific hit to their capital levels in order to justify its requirements, regardless of how well the banks say they perform. Some executives also say that the exercise isn't helpful enough to justify the work their staff put in. Centralized Approach The EBA said that it will consider how to further centralize its approach, particularly as regards to credit risk. It plans to reduce the burden of the exercise by relying more on data that banks report separately to the authorities. Regulators adapt the exams as risks to banks evolve, with the EBA saying that fallout from climate change will progressively be integrated into the regular stress test. This year, the ECB also conducted an exercise that looked at the risks that 15 banks face when engaging with counterparties like hedge funds or companies. It found that collateralization levels vary considerably across banks and that losses would be higher from a slide in the euro than from declining interest rates. In a positive sign for controls at European banks, the ECB said that so-called wrong way risk, in which exposure to a counterparty correlates with its own probability of default rather than general market risks, 'appears to be relatively limited at the current juncture.' (Updates with comments from ECB starting in 13th paragraph) How Podcast-Obsessed Tech Investors Made a New Media Industry Russia Builds a New Web Around Kremlin's Handpicked Super App Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump's Efforts ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
