US officials say Trump will likely speak with Xi this week
07:29
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The White House has said US President Donald Trump will likely hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week, following similar comments by top US officials over the weekend. This comes as tensions are ratcheting up again between the two countries, with both sides accusing the other of violating a truce deal agreed in Geneva last month. Meanwhile, the European Union threatens countermeasures after Trump moved to double US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to 50% starting June 4.
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Euronews
30 minutes ago
- Euronews
Could defence demand fuel a German steel revival post-tariffs?
After US President Donald Trump announced last week that he would double steel and aluminium tariffs from 25 to 50%, the European Commission said it was prepared to impose retaliatory measures. Germany, one of the world's largest export economies — particularly in cars, machinery, electrical goods, and chemical products — could face repercussions if an oversupply leads to falling prices, which may especially impact its struggling steel industry. However, as the car industry turns its attention to rearming in the face of increased geopolitical tensions, the steel industry may be on the verge of a boom, as weapons need steel to exist. Following years of struggle, could the German steel industry be poised to make a comeback? German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has seen the value of its share price surge since the start of the year, after the new German government, led by centre-right Christian Democrat (CDU) Friedrich Merz, promised to unleash billions of euros in extra spending on Germany's defence. Hope is beginning to return to the industry as Germany ramps up defence supply production. German defence policy spokesperson and member of the German parliament, Thomas Erndl, told Euronews that the steel industry is "currently suffering from high energy prices, like much of the economy." He said that Merz's government has taken "action to quickly reduce this burden and support the industry with further market-based instruments. This is not just an economic issue but also a matter of security policy," although he added that subsidies are not currently being considered. According to the new German government coalition agreement, electricity tax will be reduced to the minimum allowed in Europe, slashing grid fees and cutting surcharges. Is lowering energy costs enough to save a dwindling sector? Due to cheap imports from China, exploding energy prices across Europe, and the transition to more climate-friendly hydrogen, the steel industry has been struggling and spluttering for a while. The number of employees within the steel sector in Germany has been declining dramatically for decades. Around 175,000 people were employed in the steel industry in 1990. Today, there are just over 78,000. Tobias Aldenhoff, head of economic and trade policy at the German Steel Association, told Euronews that the steel industry in Germany is currently under massive pressure. He pointed to the transition from fossil fuels to climate-neutral production and said the environment was already challenging to begin with. According to the association, crude steel production has fallen by 12% so far this year, and was hampered by crises last year. The steel industry is also important for the car, mechanical and engineering industries. "If the customer industries are doing better again, this will also have a positive effect on steel demand. The extent to which the steel companies can participate in this depends on the framework conditions," Aldenhoff added. The association said it's really important for the EU to employ "effective means of defending itself against the consequences of price dumping or the steadily increasing international overcapacities, especially in China". The European Commission launched a Steel and Metals Action Plan in March, designed to minimise unfair trade measures imposed on the steel sector by international competitors and review import limits that were set during the last Trump administration, and are due to end in June 2026. Aldenhoff said that "there is an urgent need for a new effective instrument that protects the EU market from being overwhelmed by mass imports. In addition, the existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy instruments need to be revised." Bad news for the German economy However, German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp is reportedly preparing to sell an additional 30% stake in its steel division to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský, who already acquired a 20% stake last year. The company is currently being broken up and sold off in parts, with plans to cut 11,000 jobs, according to media reports. The dismantling of the 200-year-old German firm serves as a metaphor for the broader German economy. Poor overseas investments and soaring energy costs have rendered steel production increasingly unprofitable. The industry is also suffering from a global oversupply of steel, primarily from Asia. ThyssenKrupp Steel recently posted a loss of €23 million for the first half of the year. A Rheinmetall spokesperson told Euronews that it welcomes the development of the armoured steel market diversifying, as new suppliers, including from Germany, are producing steel. After ThyssenKrupp stopped producing armoured steel a few years ago, Rheinmetall was mainly dependent on foreign supplies, predominantly from Sweden. Rheinmetall said it has already purchased the initial supplies from domestic sources within Germany. "Rheinmetall's demand for armoured steel amounts to several thousand tonnes per year, with demand doubling in the past two years alone," the spokesperson said, highlighting the price and availability are most important for Rheinmetall customers. Is now the right time for the ThyssenKrupp steel sector to close? The closing of the steel arm of ThyssenKrupp has been on the cards for a long time, although the company will still retain 50% ownership even if Křetínský does buy the other 30%. The possibility of the German government bailing out Thyssenkrupp is also highly unlikely, as they lack the expertise to manage such a company. If the company continues to incur losses, taxpayers would ultimately bear the financial burden. The new race to rearm Germany is not enough to keep a steel plant open. According to experts familiar with the German steel industry, companies currently have little competitive advantage in staying in Germany as the economy is stagnant. Steel has long been a global commodity, and Germany already collaborates with the Czech Republic in the automotive sector. So whilst the sale of Thyssenkrupp's steel division may not spell trouble for the defence industry, it is a significant loss for the German economy.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
US private sector hiring sharply slows, drawing Trump ire
Private sector employment rose by 37,000 jobs last month, slowing from the 60,000 figure in April. Trump immediately reacted by pressuring independent Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates. "'Too Late' Powell must now LOWER THE RATE," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. While the US central bank has started bringing down rates from the high levels of recent years, officials have proceeded cautiously as they monitor progress in cooling stubborn inflation. When inflation is low, central banks may opt to reduce rates, which typically encourages economic activity by reducing borrowing costs. But Trump's frustration comes at a time when "hiring is losing momentum" after a strong start to this year, according to ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. She added in a statement that pay growth was also "little changed in May." Service-providing sectors like leisure and hospitality, as well as financial activities, still logged gains, according to the ADP report. Goods-producing industries saw a net loss in jobs last month, with employment declining in mining and manufacturing. Some service sectors also saw job losses, including trade and transportation, as well as business services and education or health services. Meanwhile, pay growth for those who remained in their jobs was little-changed at 4.5 percent. For those who switched jobs, pay growth was 7.0 percent. Analysts are keeping a close eye on US economic data this week, with official US employment figures also due on Friday. While ADP figures may diverge from the government numbers, experts are keeping tabs on the effects of Trump's global tariffs as they sweep through the world's biggest economy. Since returning to the presidency, Trump has slapped a 10 percent tariff on most trading partners, alongside higher rates on dozens of economies including the European Union which have since been put on pause until early July. He has also taken special aim at China with tit-for-tat tariffs between Washington and Beijing reaching three-figures before both sides reached a temporary deal to lower levels last month. But the seesawing of Trump's trade policies has snarled supply chains, roiled financial markets and weighed on consumer sentiment. "Manufacturing employment is suffering from higher input costs and disruptions to supply chains. At least one vehicle producer was forced to idle production during the first half of May; that is reminiscent of the pandemic," warned KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk in a recent note.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
'They will die': Foreign aid cuts hit women and girls the hardest
Young girls are denied an education and forced into child labour or early marriage, pregnant women in refugee camps have to give birth without a midwife, female survivors of rape, sex workers and HIV patients are left without shelter or support. These are not hypothetical scenarios or stark warnings, but the real and current impacts of massive foreign aid cuts on NGOs that support women and girls in war and conflict zones and crisis-stricken countries ranging from Gaza to Ukraine, several aid groups told Euronews. Women-led and women's rights groups operating on the frontlines of humanitarian crises have been hit the hardest — with almost half of all such organisations expecting to shut down within six months due to a lack of funding, warned a recent report by UN Women. A survey it conducted in March of 411 women-led and women's rights organisations across 44 countries also found that nearly three-quarters of the groups had already laid off staff while just over half had suspended programmes due to funding cuts. 'Simply put, women and girls will die from lack of access to these services,' said Sabine Freizer Gunes, UN Women's country representative in Ukraine. 'This situation will worsen as women's organisations providing vital services are forced to close.' International aid fell in 2024 for the first time in six years, and over the last year or so, top donor governments have announced cuts to overseas development assistance (ODA), including Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US — the world's largest donor. The administration of US President Donald Trump has dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and slashed billions of dollars for aid projects globally. Only 11.1% of the $46 billion (€40.6bn) required for global humanitarian needs in 2025 has been funded, forcing the entire aid system to reform and cut back, UN Women said. Dorothy Sang, head of advocacy and policy at CARE International UK, described the responses to UN Women's survey as 'deeply concerning', and said it was not just a case of 'abstract losses or numbers on a spreadsheet'. 'It's about daily, human experience: a girl who no longer has a safe space to learn; a mother giving birth without medical support; a survivor of violence turned away from a shelter that's been closed,' she told Euronews. 'The international aid architecture is being turned on its head and while we of course want to see vital aid being restored — we need to make sure the decisions being made right now do not leave a legacy of destruction for women and girls,' Sang added. Even before the recent cuts announced by leading government donors, humanitarian organisations worldwide were already struggling with an overall reduction in ODA. Such aid amounted to $212 billion (€188bn) last year, a reduction of by 7.1% in real terms compared to 2023, the first drop after five years of consecutive growth, according to the latest data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). NGOs say this funding squeeze has been compounded by the Trump administration's cuts to USAID, which the US president himself referred to last month as 'devastating' while saying he hoped they would spur other countries to 'chip in and spend money too'. The US was responsible for 38% of all global aid funding recorded by the UN last year. US government data shows that it disbursed about $61 billion (€69bn) in foreign aid in 2024, more than half of which came from USAID. Aside from the US, eight European countries and the EU itself have announced or already implemented cuts to their overseas development assistance totalling some €30 billion over the next four years, found a recent study by Countdown 2030 Europe. Aid cuts disproportionately affect local women-led and women's rights groups compared with international NGOs and UN entities, according to UN Women's research and experts. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of the women-led and women's rights organisations surveyed said they have had to reduce services to women and girls, and four in five predicted that the reductions in foreign aid would severely undermine access to life-saving services. A separate report released in April by several UN agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the funding cuts were putting more pregnant women at risk, and ultimately threatening fragile progress worldwide in ending maternal deaths. In places such as the Democratic Republic Congo, Gaza, and Ukraine, women-led and women's rights groups "are often the backbone of their communities, acting as first responders and providing life-saving relief,' according to Niki Ignatiou, head of women, peace, and security at ActionAid UK. 'Global North governments and donors … need to stop overlooking the national, local and grassroots groups that are doing the heavy lifting in crisis zones,' she told Euronews. 'We know from previous cuts to ODA in the UK that in the immediate wake of cuts, women and girls lose most, including access to lifesaving services," Ignatiou added. When vital services collapse during humanitarian crises, women and girls also tend to take on more care-related responsibilities, such as providing food and water and looking after the sick, UN Women said. They are also more likely to sacrifice their own health and nutrition to put their families first, and tend to have fewer opportunities to earn money. One local women's rights organisation in Ukraine, which operates solely on money from donors, told UN Women that it was in a 'dire situation' due to a reduction in funding. 'Many of our beneficiaries, women who have survived violence, HIV-positive women, former prisoners, sex workers, urgently need adaptation support and social services, but due to funding cuts, we can only offer phone consultations,' said the NGO, which was not identified. Faced with reduced funding, women-led and women's rights groups are selling assets and cutting operational costs — among other measures — UN Women said. Many are also looking for new donors or seeking additional support from their existing backers. Several of the aid experts said that humanitarian programmes for women and girls must be protected and prioritised, with greater investments in local women's organisations and more flexibility over the funding provided in order to ensure long-term support. Gunes of UN Women in Ukraine said the terms of funding for women-led and women's rights groups had routinely undermined their sustainability. She highlighted how money is typically tied to specific projects, which often only last for a few months up to a year. 'This has all kinds of implications for organisational sustainability and strategic growth,' she said, calling for donors to consider flexible funding that allows women's groups to respond in real time to needs on the ground, instead of being driven by donor priorities. While the immediate focus is on protecting the lives of women and girls, there is also concern in the aid sector about the long-term impact of funding cuts on women's rights. 'The weakening of these organisations will roll back the gains and progress made on gender equality and women's empowerment and may further embolden the anti-gender movements,' said April Pham, chief of the gender unit at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Local women's organisations from countries including Colombia and Cameroon told UN Women that the dwindling funding available to them was a setback for women's rights. 'Without the presence of women's organisations, women will be increasingly neglected and their rights will be trampled on,' said one such NGO in DRC, which was not named. At a time when gender equality is under sustained attack, all humanitarian actors must reinforce their commitments to women-led and women's rights groups, Pham said. 'We now have an opportunity to shape a humanitarian reset that truly puts women and girls at the centre — and it is time we do it,' she added. The Russian army is developing its war capabilities by multiple times more than that of NATO despite having an economy 25 times smaller, NATO's secretary general has warned. Mark Rutte also suggested Russia could attack NATO territory within three to five years, during a press conference ahead of a defence ministerial meeting taking place at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Rutte's remarks come as the US is demanding its NATO allies show "credible" progress towards spending 5% of GDP on defence. "The Russians, as we speak are reconstituting themselves at a rapid pace and producing four times more ammunition in three months than the whole of NATO in a year," said Rutte. He said Russia is doing this despite having an economy 25 times smaller than the combined economy of NATO. "So we really have to ramp up our defence spending, and that includes command and control, long range air defence systems to keep ourselves safe in case the Russians decide to attack us in three to five years," he told reporters. Demands for NATO allies to increase defence spending from 2% of GDP to 5% is the key focus of this week's meeting, as well as a leaders' summit for the alliance taking place in the Hague on 24 and 25 June. "Putin needs to know if he tries to attack the Baltics or NATO our response will be devastating," Rutte said. The timeline for allies to meet the 5% target hasn't yet been agreed but US Ambassador to NATO Mathew Whitaker said Washington expects countries to start ramping up spending immediately. US President Donald Trump expects allies to "show meaningful progress on defence budgets and credible growth year after year", Whitaker told journalists in a briefing ahead of the defence ministers' meetings on Wednesday. "The core of our message is 5% - every ally must commit to spending 5% [of GDP]," Whitaker said. He said the US is committed to NATO but the US wants to see Europeans "take a leadership role on European security". He also said Trump wants the war in Ukraine to end, adding: "This war needs to come to an end – the cost is very high on both sides."
