Trade Deals Lose Markets Potency as EU Deal Makes Little Splash
Markets around the world posted relatively small moves Monday, with modest losses in European equities and the euro, while US stocks ended flat. By comparison, when the US-Japan trade deal was announced last week, Japanese and US shares both rallied sharply.
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European Union assumes its faces 15% tariffs in the US from Friday. But a key text still isn't ready
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is working on the assumption that the United States will impose a 15% tariff on most EU exports from Friday, even though the two sides have yet to complete a key document clarifying how the agreement will operate. Last weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reached a political agreement that would see 15% duties imposed on around two-thirds of EU produce, worth around 380 billion euros ($434 billion). The tariffs are set to enter force on Friday, but as of Thursday the two sides were still working on a joint statement that would lay out the terms of their understanding, European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said. The document wouldn't be legally binding. 'It is the clear understanding of the European Union that the U.S. will implement the agreed across the board tariff ceiling of 15%,' Gill said. The commission negotiates trade terms on behalf of the the EU's 27 member countries. Carve outs were agreed for a range of 'strategic' goods like aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, some drug generics or natural resources. Gill said that 'it is also our clear understanding that the U.S. will implement the exemptions to the 15% ceiling.' 'The U.S. has made these commitments. Now it's up to the U.S. to implement them. The ball is in their court,' Gill said. European wine and spirits won't escape the 15% levy on Friday, but may do later as negotiations on additional exemptions to the new tariff regime continue, he said. Before Sunday's meeting, Trump had threatened the bloc with 30% tariffs, which the EU's top trade official said would effectively mean the end of trade between them. Over the last three months, the commission drew up retaliatory measures worth tens of billions of euros to enact should the talks fail. Those countermeasures are due to take effect on Aug. 7, but Gill said that 'if everything goes as expected,' they would be frozen. 'If we have reached a deal, we don't need the retaliatory tariffs,' he said. Lorne Cook, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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Poland last on list for US troop cuts in Europe, Polish defence ministry says
By Barbara Erling WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland, Ukraine's western neighbour, is expected to be the last country in Europe to face U.S. troop reductions, Poland's top defence official said, as Washington weighs scaling back its military presence across the continent. The prospect of a U.S. troop drawdown in Europe has been a recurring topic since the start of Donald Trump's presidency, when Washington began pressing allies to shoulder more of the defence burden. "All the conversations we have with the Americans indicate that Poland is the last country from which the Americans would want to withdraw (its troops)," Deputy Defence Minister Pawel Zalewski told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. Zalewski said there is a strategic rationale for the presence of American troops in Poland, on NATO's eastern flank, to serve as a deterrent against Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Zalewski said Poland is seeking to be the hub of the U.S. presence in Europe, potentially serving as a logistics, service or even production centre for the U.S. defence industry. "We are talking about the upgrade of F-16 aircraft or a service centre for all types of American combat vehicles, including Abrams tanks," he said. While Germany played such a role during the Cold War, he said it was logical for countries closer to the conflict in Ukraine to be the base for U.S. and allied military operations. Poland has ramped up defence spending and accelerated efforts to modernise its military, becoming NATO's top spender on defence in terms of the proportion of its national wealth. As the largest buyer of U.S. weapons in Europe, according to the Polish defence ministry, the country is positioning itself as a key player in the face of an assertive Russia. The arsenal includes Abrams tanks, HIMARS rocket systems, and air defence assets like the Patriot missile system, modern F-16 and F-35 fighter jets and Apache helicopters. As a leading voice calling for members of NATO to spend more on defence, Poland, which borders Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, has allocated 4.7% of gross domestic product to boosting its armed forces in 2025 with a pledge to increase to 5% in 2026.
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OpenAI to launch AI data center in Norway, its first in Europe
OpenAI said Thursday that it plans to launch Stargate Norway, its first AI data center in Europe, in partnership with British AI cloud infrastructure provider Nscale and Norwegian energy infrastructure firm Aker. Nscale will design and build the site, and it will be a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies. OpenAI will be an 'off-taker' in the project, buying capacity from the data center. The announcement comes as Europe races to achieve AI sovereignty and invest in data centers and compute power. Earlier this week, the bloc unveiled details of its multi-billion-dollar investment into AI infrastructure, including 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion) to set up 13 AI factories and 20 billion euros as an initial investment in the factories. Data sovereignty is key to that mission, due to the sensitive nature of business and government data. It's not clear if OpenAI's data center is a part of the European Union's plans to scale AI at home, and OpenAI did not immediately comment when contacted by TechCrunch. Nscale CEO Josh Payne told CNBC that part of the purpose of this project is to 'leverage European sovereign compute' for the benefit of the continent. Norway's AI ecosystem, like startups and scientific researchers, will get priority access to the center. CNBC also reported that Nscale and Aker have each committed around $1 billion to the initial 20 megawatt (MW) phase of the project. OpenAI says Stargate Norway will initially deliver 230 MW capacity, with plans to expand to 290 MW, and will run on 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by the end of 2026. The site will be located near Narvik, a small town in northern Norway. OpenAI said in a blog post the region is notable for its access to hydropower, a cool climate, and a 'mature industrial base.' 'The facility will run entirely on renewable power and is expected to incorporate closed-loop, direct-to-chip liquid cooling to ensure maximum cooling efficiency,' said OpenAI. 'Additionally, excess heat from the GPU systems will be made available to support low-carbon enterprises in the region.' Per the EU AI Act, which took effect in August 2024 and bans systems with 'unacceptable risk,' companies building data centers must take steps to protect the environment and be transparent about the energy consumption of AI models. Additionally, the bloc's Energy Efficiency Directive emphasizes energy efficiency in the ICT sector, which includes data centers. The directive also directs data centers exceeding certain energy input thresholds to recover waste heat. The Stargate Norway announcement comes seven months after OpenAI announced it would invest $500 billion into 10 gigawatts of AI infrastructure in the United States over the next four years, in partnership with Oracle and Softbank. The deal also follows the launch of Stargate UAE earlier this year, and a recently signed deal with the UK government to accelerate AI adoption and boost infrastructure. Sign in to access your portfolio
