Key things to know about how Elon Musk has boosted hard-right figures in Europe
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RTHK
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Tariffs on steel, semiconductors coming soon: Trump
Tariffs on steel, semiconductors coming soon: Trump Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for Alaska to meet with Vladimir Putin. Photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump said on Friday he plans to announce tariffs on steel and semiconductors in the coming weeks. "I'll be setting tariffs next week and the week after, on steel and, I would say, chips. Chips and semiconductors, we'll be setting sometime next week, the week after," Trump said on board Air Force One as he headed to Alaska for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said the levy rate would be "lower at the beginning" but "very high after a certain period of time," as a way to encourage businesses to relocate operations to the United States. The president said his policy would prompt companies in key industries like automobiles and artificial intelligence to relocate in order to "beat the tariffs," which could be 200 or 300 percent. Trump has also said he would employ this strategy with pharmaceuticals. On August 6, Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on semiconductors from firms that do not invest in the US. Trump has already instituted tariffs on steel, announcing an initial 25 percent levy that was later doubled to 50 percent. (AFP)
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump trade war with China is starting to look like a partnership
Donald Trump is demanding his cut in every deal. This is true with both the shooting war in Ukraine and the trade war with China. In his lopsided trade deal with the European Union, the US president has boasted that the bloc will be required to buy 'vast amounts' of American weapons worth 'hundreds of billions'. Even before the deal, Vice-President J.D. Vance declared that if Europe wanted to continue the war in Ukraine, they would have to pay for it by buying US weapons. Brussels has denied that it is required to do so under the new deal, but there is no doubt it will end up buying a lot more from the US weapons industry, that is, whether it continues the war in Ukraine and/or rearms Europe against Russia. Trump really wants other people's money to pay for his tax cut for the rich. Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will be exempted from export restrictions and allowed to sell lower-performance chips to China, but only after both firms agree to hand over 15 per cent of any future sales to fill the US government's coffers. But weren't those chip curbs supposed to protect America's 'national and economic security', because those chips could help advance China's military and intelligence capabilities? Well, money talks. The 'Export Clause' in the US Constitution does not allow any export tax on American firms like the 15 per cent levy to be imposed on the two US chip giants. But who bothers with the Constitution in Trump's Washington these days?
RTHK
8 hours ago
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Nations fail to reach a deal on plastics pollution
Nations fail to reach a deal on plastics pollution A mountain of plastic waste sullies a forested area in Rodriguez, Rizal province, in the Philippines. File photo: Reuters Talks on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution in Geneva ended without an agreement on Friday as the session was adjourned with plans to resume at a later date. Nations were meeting for an 11th day at the United Nations office to try to complete a landmark treaty to end the plastic pollution crisis. They remain deadlocked over whether the treaty should reduce exponential growth of plastic production and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics. The Youth Plastic Action Network was the only organisation to speak at the closing meeting on Friday. Comments from observers were cut off at the request of the United States and Kuwait after 24 hours of meetings and negotiating. The negotiations at the UN hub were supposed to be the last round and produce the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the oceans. But just like at the meeting in South Korea last year, they're leaving without a treaty. Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the chair of the negotiating committee, wrote and presented two drafts of treaty text in Geneva based on the views expressed by the nations. The representatives from 184 countries did not agree to use either one as the basis for their negotiations. Valdivieso said early on Friday as the delegates reconvened in the assembly hall that no further action is being proposed at this stage on the latest draft. After a three-hour meeting, he banged a gavel made of recycled plastic bottle tops from a Nairobi landfill. Representatives of Norway, Australia, Tuvalu and others nations said they were deeply disappointed to be leaving Geneva without a treaty. Madagascar said the world is 'expecting action, not reports from us.' European Commissioner Jessika Roswall said the European Union and its member states had higher expectations for this meeting and while the draft falls short on their demands, it's a good basis for another negotiating session. 'The Earth is not ours only. We are stewards for those who come after us. Let us fulfill that duty,' she said. China's delegation said the fight against plastic pollution is a long marathon and that this temporary setback is a new starting point to forge consensus. It urged nations to work together to offer future generations a blue planet without plastic pollution. The biggest issue of the talks has been whether the treaty should impose caps on producing new plastic or focus instead on things like better design, recycling and reuse. Powerful oil- and gas-producing nations and the plastics industry oppose production limits. They want a treaty focused on better waste management and reuse. That draft, released early on Friday, did not include a limit on plastic production, but recognised that current levels of production and consumption are 'unsustainable' and global action is needed. New language had been added to say these levels exceed current waste management capacities and are projected to increase further, 'thereby necessitating a coordinated global response to halt and reverse such trends'. (AP)
