Firing of Fed Reserve chief ‘highly unlikely', says Trump
The statement came less than 24 hours after Mr Trump indicated in a private meeting that he is leaning in favour of dismissing the head of the US central bank.
Mr Trump confirmed that he discussed the 'concept' of dismissing Mr Powell in a meeting with about a dozen Republicans, who had gathered at the White House on Tuesday to discuss crypto legislation in the House of Representatives.
Jerome Powell leads the US central bank (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
'Almost every one of them said I should,' Mr Trump said on Wednesday during an Oval Office meeting.
US stocks were shaky after the news broke, as such a move could help Wall Street get the lower interest rates that it loves but would also risk a weakened Fed unable to make the unpopular moves needed to keep inflation under control.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson stopped short of calling for Mr Powell to be fired, saying he was not certain about the 'executive authority' involved.
But he did say 'new leadership would be helpful at the Fed'.
'I've been unhappy with the leadership there personally,' Mr Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.
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RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Trump, EU's von der Leyen to meet to clinch trade deal
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to meet US President Donald Trump to clinch a trade deal for Europe that would likely see a 15% baseline tariff on most EU goods, but end months of uncertainty for EU companies. Before the meeting, expected at around 4pm on Mr Trump's golf course in Turnberry, western Scotland, US and EU teams were in final talks on tariffs for crucial sectors like cars, steel, aluminium or pharmaceuticals. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick flew to Scotland yesterday and EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič arrived this morning. Mr Lutnick said that the EU must open its markets for US exports in order to convince Mr Trump to reduce a threatened 30% tariff rate due to kick in on 1 August. He added that the EU clearly wanted to make a deal. "The question is, do they offer President Trump a good enough deal that is worth it for him to step off of the 30% tariffs that he set," Mr Lutnick told 'Fox News Sunday,' adding that Mr Trump was looking to increase access for US firms. He said the ultimate decision would be up to Mr Trump, who has said there is a 50:50 chance a deal can be reached with the EU. Mr Lutnick said the US tariff deadline of 1 August is firm and that there would be no extensions. "So no extensions, no more grace periods. 1 August, the tariffs are set. They'll go into place. Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go." "We're cautiously optimistic that there will be a deal reached," said a Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But it's not over till it's over." Ambassadors of EU governments, on a weekend trip to Greenland organised by the Danish presidency of the EU, held a teleconference with EU Commission officials to agree on the amount of leeway Ms von der Leyen would have in the talks. In case there is no deal and the US imposes 30% tariffs from 1 August, the EU has prepared counter-tariffs on €93 billion ($109 billion) of US goods. EU diplomats have said a deal would likely include a broad 15% tariff on EU goods imported into the US, mirroring the US-Japan trade deal, along with a 50% tariff on European steel and aluminium for which there could be export quotas. The EU deal would be a huge prize, given that the US and EU are each other's largest trading partners by far and account for a third of global trade. EU officials are hopeful that a 15% baseline tariff would also apply to cars, replacing the current 27.5% auto tariff. Possible exemptions Some expect the 27-nation bloc may be able to secure exemptions from the 15% baseline tariff for its aerospace industry and for spirits, though probably not for wine. The EU could also pledge to buy more liquefied natural gas from the US, a long-standing offer, and boost investment in the United States. Mr Trump told reporters there was "not a lot" of wiggle room on the 50% tariffs that the US has on steel and aluminium imports, adding, "because if I do it for one, I have to do it for all." The US President, in Scotland for a few days of golfing and bilateral meetings, told reporters upon his arrival on Friday evening that Ms von der Leyen was a highly respected leader and he was looking forward to meeting with her. He said that Brussels wanted to "make a deal very badly". The EU now faces US tariffs on more than 70% of its exports, with 50% on steel and aluminium, an extra 25% on cars and car parts on top of the existing 2.5% and a 10% levy on most other EU goods. Mr Trump has said that without a deal, he would hike the rate to 30% on 1 August, a level EU officials said would wipe out whole chunks of transatlantic commerce. Further tariffs on copper and pharmaceuticals are looming. The uncertainty and higher tariffs have already hit profits of EU companies in several sectors. A 15% tariff on most EU goods would remove uncertainty but would be seen by many in Europe as a poor outcome compared to the initial European ambition of a zero-for-zero tariff deal on all industrial goods. Seeking to learn from Japan, which secured a 15% baseline tariff with the US in a deal earlier this week, EU negotiators spoke to their Japanese counterparts in preparation for Sunday's meeting. For Mr Trump, aiming to reorder the global economy and reduce decades-old U.S. trade deficits, a deal with the EU would be the biggest trade agreement, surpassing the $550 billion deal with Japan. So far, he has reeled in agreements with the UK, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, although his administration has failed to deliver on a promise of "90 deals in 90 days."
Irish Examiner
5 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
John Whelan: Tariff-free services exports are key to growth for now
Across the business front, particularly the digital providers, an audible sigh of relief can be noticed as it became clear that the EU's €93bn list of countermeasure tariffs against the US does not include services trade. The EU's countermeasures will automatically click into force on August 7, said the European Commission, should the US fail to drop the Trump-threatened 30% tariff on all EU exports by then. The big worry for Ireland's services companies, which are mainly US multinationals, accounting for €115bn in exports sales in the first three months of the year as reported by the Central Statistics Office earlier in the month, was that the EU countermeasure tariffs on the US would include services. This would have had major implications for the many thousands employed in the sector, likely forcing relocations to other non-EU countries, as well as significantly hitting the Government's corporation tax take. Now the full weight of the EU-US tariff war is set to fall on the wide range of manufactured goods, inclusive of food and drinks products, which could impact on sales output to our largest customer the US, and in the process hitting State funding. The implication of this change in trading relationship with the US is the need to bolster support for Ireland's traders in the services sector, in particular, digital trade providers such as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Foreign-owned enterprises account for 80% of Ireland's services exports, the second highest of the OECD countries, as reported in its Services Trade Restrictiveness Index report 2025. This leaves Ireland more exposed than most countries to US trade pressures, as the vast majority of these Ireland-based multinationals are US-owned. Retaining these global digital players in Ireland must continue to be a priority for the Government, but also there is an urgent need to do more to develop indigenous Irish companies, to ensure more controllable and sustainable growth of the services exports sector. Amazon scraps plan for plant Amazon's scrapping of its plan to build an industrial plant in Dublin, involving a €300m investment which would employ more than 500, because it did not receive the necessary Government guarantees about power supplies the plant would require, is a clear indicator of the challenges faced in retaining the multinationals in Ireland. This Amazon project loss is a critical blow to our attempts to stay up with the global AI tech race, as the now scuttled project involved the creation of an AI testing and manufacturing facility and not a data centre. It would also have enabled the training of a fresh cohort of employees, who could in the future enable the setting up of indigenous AI start-ups. To date, Enterprise Ireland, which supports Irish-owned companies, has failed to significantly grow the service exporting industry. Enterprise Ireland client companies account for under 2% of our total service trade exports. The other 18% of the services exports from Ireland come from entrepreneurs who have built their export businesses without State support. Many of them depend on good access to digital services platforms provided by the likes of Google, Meta, and Microsoft, which again underscores the critical reliance on the connection with the US. Reducing dependence on the US and deepening EU integration in services could be achieved by encouraging more innovation and stimulating much-needed investment. An easy win should be with the UK, which last year imported €314bn in services, but only €12bn from Ireland. Service sector reforms are, of course, not going to be easy, either in their politics or in their execution. The freedom to establish a company in another EU country and the freedom to provide or receive services in another EU country are already established for many services through the EU Services Directive — but implementation has been weak. Services regulations are complex and highly decentralised. In many EU member states, reforms are often implemented by professional associations, who may have a bias against reforms or even a conflict of interest. Many professions and industries thrive on the fees that regulatory constraints generate — and you and I, as service users, are rarely aware of the costs that these regulations impose on us. Read More Trump and von der Leyen set for crunch meeting on EU-US trade talks
Irish Independent
5 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen to meet in Scotland in effort to clinch EU-US trade deal
Before the meeting, expected at 1530 GMT on Trump's golf course in Turnberry, western Scotland, U.S. and EU teams were in final talks on tariffs for crucial sectors like cars, steel, aluminium or pharmaceuticals. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick flew to Scotland on Saturday and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic arrived on Sunday morning. "We're cautiously optimistic that there will be a deal reached," said a Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But it's not over till it's over." Ambassadors of EU governments, on a weekend trip to Greenland organised by the Danish presidency of the EU, held a teleconference with EU Commission officials on Sunday to agree on the amount of leeway von der Leyen would have in the talks. In case there is no deal and the U.S. imposes 30% tariffs from August 1, the EU has prepared counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. goods. EU diplomats have said a deal would likely include a broad 15% tariff on EU goods imported into the U.S., mirroring the U.S.-Japan trade deal, along with a 50% tariff on European steel and aluminium for which there could be export quotas. The EU deal would be a huge prize, given that the U.S. and EU are each other's largest trading partners by far and account for a third of global trade. EU officials are hopeful that a 15% baseline tariff would also apply to cars, replacing the current 27.5% auto tariff. Some expect the 27-nation bloc may be able to secure exemptions from the 15% baseline tariff for its aerospace industry and for spirits, though probably not for wine. The EU could also pledge to buy more liquefied natural gas from the U.S., a long-standing offer, and boost investment in the United States. ADVERTISEMENT Trump told reporters there was "not a lot" of wiggle room on the 50% tariffs that the U.S. has on steel and aluminium imports, adding, "because if I do it for one, I have to do it for all." The U.S. president, in Scotland for a few days of golfing and bilateral meetings, told reporters upon his arrival on Friday evening that von der Leyen was a highly respected leader and he was looking forward to meeting with her. He said there was a 50-50 chance that the two sides could reach a framework trade pact, adding that Brussels wanted to "make a deal very badly". The EU now faces U.S. tariffs on more than 70% of its exports, with 50% on steel and aluminium, an extra 25% on cars and car parts on top of the existing 2.5% and a 10% levy on most other EU goods. Trump has said that without a deal, he would hike the rate to 30% on August 1, a level EU officials said would wipe out whole chunks of transatlantic commerce. Further tariffs on copper and pharmaceuticals are looming. The uncertainty and higher tariffs have already hit profits of EU companies in several sectors. A 15% tariff on most EU goods would remove uncertainty but would be seen by many in Europe as a poor outcome compared to the initial European ambition of a zero-for-zero tariff deal on all industrial goods. Seeking to learn from Japan, which secured a 15% baseline tariff with the U.S. in a deal earlier this week, EU negotiators spoke to their Japanese counterparts in preparation for Sunday's meeting. For Trump, aiming to reorder the global economy and reduce decades-old U.S. trade deficits, a deal with the EU would be the biggest trade agreement, surpassing the $550 billion deal with Japan. So far, he has reeled in agreements with Britain, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, although his administration has failed to deliver on a promise of "90 deals in 90 days."
