logo
Trump's funding cut stalls water projects, increasing risks for millions

Trump's funding cut stalls water projects, increasing risks for millions

Time of India19-07-2025
The
Trump
administration's decision to slash nearly all U.S. foreign aid has left dozens of
water and sanitation projects
half-finished across the globe, creating new hazards for some of the people they were designed to benefit, Reuters has found.
Reuters has identified 21 unfinished projects in 16 countries after speaking to 17 sources familiar with the infrastructure plans. Most of these projects have not previously been reported. With hundreds of millions of dollars in funding cancelled since January, workers have put down their shovels and left holes half dug and building supplies unguarded, according to interviews with U.S. and local officials and internal documents seen by Reuters.
Explore courses from Top Institutes in
Select a Course Category
Public Policy
Degree
Management
Design Thinking
Technology
Artificial Intelligence
PGDM
Product Management
MBA
Data Analytics
Digital Marketing
Project Management
CXO
healthcare
Healthcare
Data Science
others
Leadership
MCA
Data Science
Finance
Cybersecurity
Operations Management
Others
Skills you'll gain:
Economics for Public Policy Making
Quantitative Techniques
Public & Project Finance
Law, Health & Urban Development Policy
Duration:
12 Months
IIM Kozhikode
Professional Certificate Programme in Public Policy Management
Starts on
Mar 3, 2024
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
12 Months
IIM Calcutta
Executive Programme in Public Policy and Management
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
As a result, millions of people who were promised clean drinking water and reliable sanitation facilities by the United States have been left to fend for themselves. Water towers intended to serve schools and health clinics in Mali have been abandoned, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. In Nepal, construction was halted on more than 100 drinking water systems, leaving plumbing supplies and 6,500 bags of cement in local communities. The Himalayan nation will use its own funds to finish the job, according to the country's water minister Pradeep Yadav. In Lebanon, a project to provide cheap solar power to water utilities was scrapped, costing some 70 people their jobs and halting plans to improve regional services. The utilities are now relying on diesel and other sources to power their services, said Suzy Hoayek, an adviser to Lebanon's energy ministry. In Kenya, residents of Taita
Taveta
County say they are now more vulnerable to flooding than they had been before, as half-finished irrigation canals could collapse and sweep away crops. Community leaders say it will cost $2,000 to lower the risk - twice the average annual income in the area.
"I have no protection from the flooding that the canal will now cause, the floods will definitely get worse," said farmer Mary Kibachia, 74.
BIPARTISAN SUPPORT
Live Events
Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development has left life-saving food and medical aid rotting in warehouses and thrown humanitarian efforts around the world into turmoil. The cuts may cause an additional 14 million deaths by 2030, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal. The Trump administration and its supporters argue that the United States should spend its money to benefit Americans at home rather than sending it abroad, and say
USAID
had strayed from its original mission by funding projects like LGBT rights in Serbia.
With an annual budget of $450 million, the U.S. water projects accounted for a small fraction of the $61 billion in foreign aid distributed by the United States last year.
Before Trump's reelection in November, the water projects had not been controversial in Washington. A 2014 law that doubled funding passed both chambers of Congress unanimously.
Advocates say the United States has over the years improved the lives of tens of millions of people by building pumps, irrigation canals, toilets and other water and sanitation projects. That means children are less likely to die of water-borne diseases like diarrhea, girls are more likely to stay in school, and young men are less likely to be recruited by extremist groups, said John Oldfield, a consultant and lobbyist for water infrastructure projects.
"Do we want girls carrying water on their heads for their families? Or do you want them carrying school books?" he said.
The U.S.
State Department
, which has taken over foreign aid from USAID, did not respond to a request for comment about the impact of halting the water projects. The agency has restored some funding for life-saving projects, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said American assistance will be more limited going forward. At least one water project has been restarted. Funding for a $6 billion desalination plant in Jordan was restored after a diplomatic push by King Abdullah.
But funding has not resumed for projects in other countries including Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, say people familiar with those programs who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That means women in those areas will have to walk for hours to collect unsafe water, children will face increased disease risk and health facilities will be shuttered, said Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps, a nonprofit that worked with USAID on water projects in Congo, Nigeria and Afghanistan that were intended to benefit 1.7 million people.
"This isn't just the loss of aid - it's the unraveling of progress, stability, and human dignity," she said.
THE PERILS OF FETCHING WATER
In eastern Congo, where fighting between Congolese forces and M23 rebels has claimed thousands of lives, defunct USAID water kiosks now serve as play areas for children.
Evelyne Mbaswa, 38, told Reuters her 16-year-old son went to fetch water in June and never came home - a familiar reality to families in the violence-wracked region.
"When we send young girls, they are raped, young boys are kidnapped.... All this is because of the lack of water," the mother of nine said.
A spokesperson for the Congolese government did not respond to requests for comment. In Kenya, USAID was in the midst of a five-year, $100 million project that aimed to provide drinking water and irrigation systems for 150,000 people when contractors and staffers were told in January to stop their work, according to internal documents seen by Reuters. Only 15% of the work had been completed at that point, according to a May 15 memo by DAI Global LLC, the contractor on the project.
That has left open trenches and deep holes that pose acute risks for children and livestock and left $100,000 worth of pipes, fencing and other materials exposed at construction sites, where they could degrade or be looted, according to other correspondence seen by Reuters. USAID signage at those sites makes clear who is responsible for the half-finished work, several memos say.
That could hurt the United States' reputation and potentially give a boost to extremist groups seeking fresh recruits in the region, according to a draft memo from the U.S. embassy in Nairobi to the State Department seen by Reuters.
The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group based in Somalia has been responsible for a string of high-profile attacks in Kenya, including an assault on a university in 2015 that killed at least 147 people.
"The reputational risk of not finishing these projects could turn into a security risk," the memo said.
DAMAGING FLOODS
In Kenya's Taita Taveta, a largely rural county that has endured cyclical drought and flooding, workers had only managed to build brick walls along 220 metres of the 3.1-kilometre (1.9 mile) irrigation canal when they were ordered to stop, community leaders said. And those walls have not been plastered, leaving them vulnerable to erosion.
"Without plaster, the walls will collapse in heavy rain, and the flow of water will lead to the destruction of farms," said Juma Kobo, a community leader.
The community has asked the Kenyan government and international donors to help finish the job, at a projected cost of 68 million shillings ($526,000).
In the meantime, they plan to sell the cement and steel cables left on site, Kobo said, to raise money to plaster and backfill the canal.
The county government needs to find "funds to at least finish the project to the degree we can with the materials we have, if not complete it fully," said Stephen Kiteto Mwagoti, an irrigation officer working for the county.
The Kenyan government did not respond to a request for comment. For Kibachia, who has lived with flooding for years, help cannot come soon enough.
Three months after work stopped on the project, her mud hut was flooded with thigh-deep water.
"It was really bad this time. I had to use soil to level the floor of my house and to patch up holes in the wall because of damage caused by the floods," she said.
"Where can I go? This is home."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

U.S.-EU trade deal wards off further escalation but will raise costs for companies, consumers
U.S.-EU trade deal wards off further escalation but will raise costs for companies, consumers

The Hindu

time21 minutes ago

  • The Hindu

U.S.-EU trade deal wards off further escalation but will raise costs for companies, consumers

President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have announced a sweeping trade deal that imposes 15% tariffs on most European goods, warding off Mr. Trump's threat of a 30% rate if no deal had been reached by August 1. The tariffs, or import taxes, paid when Americans buy European products could raise prices for U.S. consumers and dent profits for European companies and their partners who bring goods into the country. Here are some things to know about the trade deal between the United States and the European Union: What's in the agreement? Mr. Trump and Ms. von der Leyen's announcement, made during Mr. Trump's visit to one of his golf courses in Scotland, leaves many details to be filled in. The headline figure is a 15% tariff rate on 'the vast majority' of European goods brought into the US, including cars, computer chips and pharmaceuticals. It's lower than the 20% Mr. Trump initially proposed, and lower than his threats of 50% and then 30%. Ms. von der Leyen said the two sides agreed on zero tariffs on a range of 'strategic' goods: Aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, and some natural resources and critical raw materials. Specifics were lacking. She said the two sides 'would keep working' to add more products to the list. Additionally, the EU side would purchase what Mr. Trump said was $750 billion worth of natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel to replace Russian energy supplies, and Europeans would invest an additional $600 billion in the U.S.. What's not in the deal? Mr. Trump said the 50% U.S. tariff on imported steel would remain; Ms. von der Leyen said the two sides agreed to further negotiations to fight a global steel glut, reduce tariffs and establish import quotas — that is, set amounts that can be imported, often at a lower rate. Mr. Trump said pharmaceuticals were not included in the deal. Ms. von der Leyen said the pharmaceuticals issue was 'on a separate sheet of paper' from Sunday's (July 27, 2025) deal. Where the $600 billion for additional investment would come from was not specified. And Ms. von der Leyen said that when it came to farm products, the EU side made clear that 'there were tariffs that could not be lowered,' without specifying which products. What's the impact? The 15% rate removes Mr. Trump's threat of a 30% tariff. It's still much higher than the average tariff before Mr. Trump came into office of around 1%, and higher than Mr. Trump's minimum 10% baseline tariff. Higher tariffs, or import taxes, on European goods mean sellers in the U.S. would have to either increase prices for consumers — risking loss of market share — or swallow the added cost in terms of lower profits. The higher tariffs are expected to hurt export earnings for European firms and slow the economy. The 10% baseline applied while the deal was negotiated was already sufficiently high to make the European Union's executive commission cut its growth forecast for this year from 1.3% to 0.9%. Ms. Von der Leyen said the 15% rate was 'the best we could do' and credited the deal with maintaining access to the US market and providing 'stability and predictability for companies on both sides.' What is some of the reaction to the deal? German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal, which avoided 'an unnecessary escalation in transatlantic trade relations" and said that 'we were able to preserve our core interests,' while adding that 'I would have very much wished for further relief in transatlantic trade.' The Federation of German Industries was blunter. "Even a 15% tariff rate will have immense negative effects on export-oriented German industry," said Wolfgang Niedermark, a member of the federation's leadership. While the rate is lower than threatened, "the big caveat to today's deal is that there is nothing on paper, yet," said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank. 'With this disclaimer in mind and at face value, today's agreement would clearly bring an end to the uncertainty of recent months. An escalation of the US-EU trade tensions would have been a severe risk for the global economy," Mr. Brzeski said. 'This risk seems to have been avoided.' What about car companies? Asked if European carmakers could still sell cars at 15%, Ms. von der Leyen said the rate was much lower than the current 27.5%. That has been the rate under Mr. Trump's 25% tariff on cars from all countries, plus the preexisting U.S. car tariff of 2.5%. The impact is likely to be substantial on some companies, given that automaker Volkswagen said it suffered a $1.5 billion hit to profit in the first half of the year from the higher tariffs. Mercedes-Benz dealers in the US have said they are holding the line on 2025 model year prices 'until further notice.' The German automaker has a partial tariff shield because it makes 35% of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in the U.S. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but the company said it expects prices to undergo 'significant increases' in coming years. What were the issues dividing the two sides? Before Mr. Trump returned to office, the U.S. and the EU maintained generally low tariff levels in what is the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world, with some USD 2 trillion in annual trade. Together, the U.S. and the EU have 44% of the global economy. The U.S. rate averaged 1.47% for European goods, while the EU's averaged 1.35% for American products, according to the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. Mr. Trump has complained about the EU's 198 billion-euro trade surplus in goods, which shows Americans buy more from European businesses than the other way around, and has said the European market is not open enough for U.S.-made cars. However, American companies fill some of the trade gap by outselling the EU when it comes to services such as cloud computing, travel bookings, and legal and financial services. And some 30% of European imports are from American-owned companies, according to the European Central Bank.

EU reaches tariff deal with US to avert painful trade blow
EU reaches tariff deal with US to avert painful trade blow

Mint

time21 minutes ago

  • Mint

EU reaches tariff deal with US to avert painful trade blow

The US and European Union agreed on a hard-fought deal that will see the bloc face 15% tariffs on most of its exports, including automobiles, staving off a trade war that could have delivered a hammer blow to the global economy. The pact was concluded less than a week before a Friday deadline for President Donald Trump's higher tariffs to take effect and was quickly praised by several European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who called it 'sustainable.' Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal Sunday at his golf club in Turnberry, Scotland, although they didn't disclose the full details of the pact or release any written materials. The 15% rates will take effect Aug. 1, according to a US official. 'It's the biggest of all the deals,' Trump said, while von der Leyen added it would bring 'stability' and 'predictability.' US equity futures climbed, with S&P 500 contracts rising 0.4% after the index notched its fifth-straight all-time high on Friday. The deal would leave EU exports facing much higher tariffs than the bloc would charge for imports from the US, with von der Leyen saying the aim is to rebalance a trade surplus with the US. But those kinds of tradeoffs in the agreement angered some European industry groups, with Germany's main lobby saying it 'sends a fatal signal to the closely intertwined economies on both sides of the Atlantic.' Von der Leyen and Trump also differed on some of the key terms of the deal they announced. The US president said the tariff level would apply to 'automobiles and everything else,' but not pharmaceuticals and metals. The chief of the EU's executive arm said later at a news conference that the 15% rate would be all inclusive, wouldn't stack on top of industry-specific tariffs and would cover drugs, chips and cars. Metals duties 'will be cut and a quota system will be put in place,' she said. 'We have 15% for pharmaceuticals. Whatever the decision later on is, of the president of the US, how to deal with pharmaceuticals in general globally, that's on a different sheet of paper,' von der Leyen said, adding that the overall rate 'is not to be underestimated but it was the best we could get.' Senior US officials later said that the two sides agreed on a 15% tariff level for the EU's pharmaceutical exports. A separate Section 232 probe on pharmaceuticals is still coming over the next three weeks, but the EU tariff level will remain at 15%, the officials added. The EU agreed to purchase $750 billion in American energy products, invest $600 billion in the US on top of existing expenditures, open up countries' markets to trade with the US at zero tariffs and purchase 'vast amounts' of military equipment, Trump said. Von der Leyen said no decisions have been made on European wine and spirits, but the matter would be sorted out soon. Key to getting the 15% rate to apply to pharmaceuticals and semiconductors was the bloc's promise to make US investments, according to people familiar with the matter. Ahead of the meeting, the EU was expecting a 15% charge on its imports to also apply to most pharmaceuticals. The products had been one of the negotiation's main sticking points. Without a deal, Bloomberg Economics estimated that the total US average effective tariff rate would rise to nearly 18% on Aug. 1 from 13.5% under current policies. The new deal brings that number down to 16%. The deal doesn't cover the EU's steel and aluminum exports, which will remain subject to 50% tariffs, according to senior US officials. Aerospace tariffs, meanwhile, will remain at 0% pending the outcome of a Section 232 probe, the officials added. Officials had discussed terms for a quota system for steel and aluminum imports, which would face a lower import tax below a certain threshold and would be charged the regular 50% rate above it. The EU had also been seeking quotas and a cap on future industry-specific tariffs. For months, Trump has threatened most of the world with high tariffs with the goal of shrinking US trade deficits. But the prospect of those duties — and Trump's unpredictable nature — put world capitals on edge. In May, he threatened to impose a 50% duty on nearly all EU goods, adding pressure that accelerated negotiations, before lowering that to 30%. The transatlantic pact removes a major risk for markets and the global economy — a trade war involving $1.7 trillion worth of cross-border commerce — even though it means European shipments to the US are getting hit with a higher tax at the border. The goals, Trump said, were more production in the US and wider access for American exporters to the European market. Von der Leyen acknowledged part of the drive behind the talks was a reordering of trade, but cast it as beneficial for both sides. 'The starting point was an imbalance,' von der Leyen said. 'We wanted to rebalance the trade we made, and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic, because the two biggest economies should have a good trade flow.' The announcement capped off months of often tense shuttle diplomacy between Brussels and Washington. The two sides appeared close to a deal earlier this month when Trump made his 30% threat. The EU had prepared to put levies on about €100 billion ($117 billion) — about a third of American exports to the bloc — if a deal wasn't reached and Trump followed through on his warning. US and European negotiators had been zeroing in on an agreement this past week, and the decision for von der Leyen to meet Trump at his signature golf property brought the standoff to a dramatic conclusion. The EU for weeks indicated a willingness to accept an unbalanced pact involving a reduced rate of around 15%, while seeking relief from levies on industries critical to the European economy. The US president has also imposed 25% duties on cars and double that rate on steel and aluminum, as well as copper. Several exporters in Asia, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, have negotiated reciprocal rates between 15% to 20%, and the EU saw Japan's deal for 15% on autos as a breakthrough worth seeking as well. Washington's talks also continue with Switzerland, South Korea and Taiwan. Trump said he is 'looking at deals with three or four other countries' but 'for the most part' others with smaller economies or less significant trading relationships with the US would receive letters simply setting tariff rates. Earlier: Trump Says Countries Will Face Tariffs Ranging From 15% to 50% Trump announced a range of tariffs on almost all US trading partners in April, declaring his intent to revive domestic manufacturing, help pay for a massive tax cut and address economic imbalances he has said are detrimental to US workers. He put them on pause a week later when investors panicked. Trump's decades-old complaints about the global trading system heap particularly sharp scorn on the EU, which he has accused of being formed to 'screw' the US. The bloc was established in the years following World War II in order to establish economic stability on the continent. The president has lashed out at non-tariff barriers for American companies to do business across the 27-nation bloc. Those include the EU's value-added tax, levies on digital services, and safety and environmental regulations. Weeks of negotiations tested the EU's willingness to digest what is seen as an asymmetrical outcome, a senior EU diplomat said, but one that offers an opportunity to continue the talks without escalating further. --With assistance from Michael G. Wilson, Skylar Woodhouse, Katharina Rosskopf, Kasia Klimasinska, Sam Kim, Jorge Valero, Jenny Leonard, Tommaso Ebhardt, Arne Delfs, Se Young Lee and Richard Bravo.

US-EU trade deal wards off escalation, to raise costs for firms, consumers
US-EU trade deal wards off escalation, to raise costs for firms, consumers

Business Standard

time21 minutes ago

  • Business Standard

US-EU trade deal wards off escalation, to raise costs for firms, consumers

President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have announced a sweeping trade deal that imposes 15 per cent tariffs on most European goods, warding off Trump's threat of a 30 per cent rate if no deal had been reached by August 1. The tariffs, or import taxes, paid when Americans buy European products could raise prices for US consumers and dent profits for European companies and their partners who bring goods into the country. Here are some things to know about the trade deal between the United States and the European Union: What's in the agreement? Trump and von der Leyen's announcement, made during Trump's visit to one of his golf courses in Scotland, leaves many details to be filled in. The headline figure is a 15 per cent tariff rate on the vast majority of European goods brought into the US, including cars, computer chips and pharmaceuticals. It's lower than the 20 per cent Trump initially proposed, and lower than his threats of 50 per cent and then 30 per cent. Von der Leyen said the two sides agreed on zero tariffs on both sides for a range of strategic goods: Aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, and some natural resources and critical raw materials. Specifics were lacking. She said the two sides would keep working to add more products to the list. Additionally, the EU side would purchase what Trump said was USD 750 billion worth of natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel to replace Russian energy supplies, and Europeans would invest an additional USD 600 billion in the US. What's not in the deal? Trump said the 50 per cent US tariff on imported steel would remain; von der Leyen said the two sides agreed to further negotiations to fight a global steel glut, reduce tariffs and establish import quotas that is, set amounts that can be imported, often at a lower rate. Trump said pharmaceuticals were not included in the deal. Von der Leyen said the pharmaceuticals issue was on a separate sheet of paper from Sunday's deal. Where the $600 billion for additional investment would come from was not specified. And von der Leyen said that when it came to farm products, the EU side made clear that there were tariffs that could not be lowered, without specifying which products. What's the impact? The 15 per cent rate removes Trump's threat of a 30 per cent tariff. It's still much higher than the average tariff before Trump came into office of around 1 per cent, and higher than Trump's minimum 10 per cent baseline tariff. Higher tariffs, or import taxes, on European goods mean sellers in the US would have to either increase prices for consumers risking loss of market share or swallow the added cost in terms of lower profits. The higher tariffs are expected to hurt export earnings for European firms and slow the economy. The 10 per cent baseline applied while the deal was negotiated was already sufficiently high to make the European Union's executive commission cut its growth forecast for this year from 1.3 per cent to 0.9 per cent. Von der Leyen said the 15 per cent rate was the best we could do and credited the deal with maintaining access to the US market and providing stability and predictability for companies on both sides. What is some of the reaction to the deal? German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal which avoided an unnecessary escalation in transatlantic trade relations" and said that we were able to preserve our core interests, while adding that I would have very much wished for further relief in transatlantic trade. The Federation of German Industries was blunter. "Even a 15 per cent tariff rate will have immense negative effects on export-oriented German industry," said Wolfgang Niedermark, a member of the federation's leadership. While the rate is lower than threatened, "the big caveat to today's deal is that there is nothing on paper, yet," said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank. With this disclaimer in mind and at face value, today's agreement would clearly bring an end to the uncertainty of recent months. An escalation of the US-EU trade tensions would have been a severe risk for the global economy," Brzeski said. This risk seems to have been avoided. What about car companies? Asked if European carmakers could still sell cars at 15 per cent, von der Leyen said the rate was much lower than the current 27.5 per cent. That has been the rate under Trump's 25 per cent tariff on cars from all countries, plus the preexisting US car tariff of 2.5 per cent. The impact is likely to be substantial on some companies, given that automaker Volkswagen said it suffered a $1.5 billion hit to profit in the first half of the year from the higher tariffs. Mercedes-Benz dealers in the US have said they are holding the line on 2025 model year prices until further notice. The German automaker has a partial tariff shield because it makes 35 per cent of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in the US in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but the company said it expects prices to undergo significant increases in coming years. What were the issues dividing the two sides? Before Trump returned to office, the US and the EU maintained generally low tariff levels in what is the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world, with some USD 2 trillion in annual trade. Together the US and the EU have 44 per cent of the global economy. The US rate averaged 1.47 per cent for European goods, while the EU's averaged 1.35 per cent for American products, according to the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. Trump has complained about the EU's 198 billion-euro trade surplus in goods, which shows Americans buy more from European businesses than the other way around, and has said the European market is not open enough for US-made cars. However, American companies fill some of the trade gap by outselling the EU when it comes to services such as cloud computing, travel bookings, and legal and financial services. And some 30 per cent of European imports are from American-owned companies, according to the European Central Bank. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store