Latest news with #EU-US
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
EU gains leverage in trade talks as US court casts doubt on tariffs, EU officials say
The European Union has gained leverage in trade talks with the United States after a U.S. court cast doubt on the legality of Washington's "reciprocal" tariffs, EU officials said on Friday. A U.S. federal appeals court temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump's tariffs on Thursday, a day after a U.S. trade court ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them. "The uncertainty as to the legality of the 'reciprocal' tariffs certainly gives us extra leverage," one EU official close to the talks said. "The talks will continue, as formally we still look for zero-for-zero tariffs." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm If the court system ultimately rules against Trump's use of the IEEPA emergency act, the administration could make use of other provisions in the U.S. Trade Act such as Section 301, which has been broadly used with China. "You'd need to establish 'injury' and a legal basis and it takes months. Administratively, they might still do a hatchet job ... given checks and balances are not that strong in the U.S. right now but it won't be as easy or done as quickly as IEEPA," Niclas Poitiers, research fellow at EU Brussels think tank Bruegel, told Reuters Live Events "It would at least buy the EU some time." The EU was willing to discuss some non-trade barriers with the U.S., EU officials said, but would not touch the EU's taxation system -- such as the value added tax or digital tax -- or food safety standards. The EU officials said the uncertainty created by the court rulings and the Trump administration's tariff policy had a positive aspect for Europe, which was seen by markets as an oasis of stability in comparison. "This is the watchword: uncertainty. It is impossible to know what the status of the tariffs will be next week, not to mention next month," one of the EU officials said. "If you want sane, stable, even boring, rules-based order and predictable business environment, Europe is the place for you." Meanwhile, some European companies, worried over the uncertainty and possible major hits to their business, are holding their own talks with U.S. authorities. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said his company was holding "fair" and "constructive" talks with the U.S. government on tariffs and wanted to make further investments in the country. The European Commission conducts all trade negotiations on behalf of the 27-nation bloc and companies, or even individual EU countries, cannot legally get a deal outside that framework. "Now it looks like we're not in the most damaging economic scenario ... but it still maintains the uncertainty and maybe increases it because there is a new player that people have not taken into account so far - the courts," Poitiers at Bruegel said. EU-US TRADE TALKS The European Commission would not comment on the U.S. court rulings because they were internal U.S. procedures. But it said trade talks between Brussels and Washington would continue, with Europe sticking to its offer of mutual zero tariffs on industrial goods. "There's no change in our approach, we proceed as planned with both technical and political meetings next week," a Commission spokesperson said. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic in a post on the X social media platform said he held a phone call with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday. "Our time and effort fully invested, as delivering forward-looking solutions remains a top EU priority. Staying in permanent contact," Sefcovic said on X. More trade talks between the U.S. and the EU are scheduled for next week, on the sidelines of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris on June 3-4. The EU officials said the U.S. courts' rulings validated the EU view that the sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs, imposed on all goods from the EU and many other countries around the world on April 2, were unjustified. They also said that while U.S. courts did not question Washington's 25% tariffs imposed on European steel, aluminium and cars, the rulings could also play a role in the EU's efforts to get those tariffs lowered or removed.
DW
3 days ago
- Business
- DW
US court battle over Trump tariffs brings no reprieve for EU – DW – 05/30/2025
The EU could almost have been saved by the bell, at least in part, by a US court ruling suspending many of President Trump's tariffs. But it's more likely to heighten confusion than usher in a breakthrough, experts warn. For a brief moment on Thursday, it looked like the European Union and countries around the globe would get a surprise reprieve from the widest-sweeping tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. The little-known US Court of International Trade in New York struck down the blanket baseline 10% tariffs on virtually all goods imported into the US, announced two months ago on what Trump dubbed "Liberation Day," along with even higher country-specific rates. The US federal court argued that Trump had overstepped his presidential powers with the radical and sprawling penalties, a central pillar of his isolationist "America First' economic policy, and ordered a halt to the tariffs. 'Liberation Day' kicked off a wave of economic chaos and frantic negotiations Image: Brendan Smialowski/AFP But within hours, there was a fresh plot twist: an appeals court suspended that order too, essentially reinstating the tariffs for the time being. How exactly the battle — which is essentially about how much power over trade policy resides with the president and how much with Congress — plays out within the US judicial system remains to be seen. Back to negotiations For the EU, along with other global trading partners, Thursday's news boiled down to a welcome glimmer of hope that was quickly extinguished, at least for now. In Brussels on Friday, the focus instead was on ongoing negotiations with the US. "Both sides are now working to an accelerated pace with a view to sealing agreements," European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill told DW. The EU executive branch represents the 27 EU countries, which together form the world's largest trade bloc united under a closely integrated single market system, in commerce negotiations with the rest of the world. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, whose portfolio covers trade, posted on social media platform X after a phone call with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. Trump tariffs threaten Italy's pecorino cheese To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "Our time and effort [is] fully invested, as delivering forward-looking solutions remains a top EU priority," Sefcovic wrote. "Staying in permanent contact," he added. As of April, most goods exports from the EU to the US are subject to 10% tariffs, with the bloc having so far avoided higher rates. This came on top of the painful 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum sold to the US, already imposed in March. Stronger hand or just more confusion? The EU was poised to hit back with significant countermeasures on everything from whiskey to motorcycles and prepared a second package, though both have been paused as EU-US negotiations continue. Trump had threatened to hike the baseline rate to 50% in July. But last week, after a call with the US leader, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that both sides would hold fire for now pending further talks Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament's trade committee, told DW he thought the Court of International Trade ruling could help Brussels. The baseline 10% tariffs hinge on a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. A visit by one of Trump's favorite EU leaders, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, also failed to yield a breakthrough Image: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images "This is really not a legitimate basis for tariffs against almost 100 countries around the world," Lange said. "Republican states and companies close to them have also taken legal action against the president's activities," the German center-left parliamentarian noted. "The position of the European Union is of course also strengthened because the potential for blackmail is reduced," the EU lawmaker argued. But Andre Sapir, an expert from the Brussels economic think tank Bruegel and former advisor to the European Commission, saw things differently. "I think it brings even more uncertainty to the whole process," Sapir told DW by phone. For the business community, one of the worst aspects of the ongoing trade war was the lack of clarity about how things would pan out, he explained. What is the EU's game plan? The EU has offered a "zero-for-zero" tariff trade deal, in essence removing all penalties. This has so far not yielded a major breakthrough. One of Trump's key complaints is that the US imports many more EU goods than the EU does from the US, also known as a trade deficit. In December 2024, the EU exported €45.4 billion ($49.4 billion) worth of goods to the US, while it imported €27.5 billion worth of US goods. However, the EU frequently argues that the US sells far more services to the bloc than the other way round. To assuage Trump, the European Commission has proposed pushing EU companies and countries to buy more natural gas from the US, a shift that is already well under way since it turned away from Russia over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. How is the strategy going? Faced with threats from Trump, the EU has so far opted for a rather restrained approach compared to China, for example. Bejing has been much quicker and more aggressive in resorting to countermeasures, sending tariffs on both sides sky-high. However, earlier this month, Washington and Beijing announced a truce in the escalation, each side cutting their tariff rate by 115%. So far only the UK has struck a deal with the US, though it has been criticized as incomplete Image: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images EU lawmaker Bernd Lange said that after the rulings, the basic strategy was unchanged. The bloc has made clear it is trying to address Trump's concerns in the negotiations. "But it is also that if it doesn't work, we will impose measures. The EU is strong enough." For Sapir of think tank Bruegel, Thursday's rulings do not change much. Even if Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs were ultimately found to be based on shaky legal foundations and struck down, the president would likely simply find another way to impose different tariffs, he argued. "I don't think that any country can believe that this ruling is the end of that problem," he said. Edited by: J. Wingard
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CEA Chair Miran on EU Talks, Tariffs and Deregulation
White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Stephen Miran discusses the state of EU-US trade negotiations, the economic impact of recent tariffs and the Trump administration's deregulation initiative. Speaking with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on "Balance of Power," Miran says the 10% universal baseline tariff rate isn't big enough "to have any adverse consequences in the economy." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Brussels seeks companies' US spending plans as Trump hails move toward talks
[BERLIN] European Union officials have asked the EU's leading companies and CEOs for details of their US investment plans, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as Brussels prepares to advance trade talks with Washington after US President Donald Trump backtracked on threatened steep tariffs on imports from the bloc. Trump said on Tuesday the European Union's move to set up talks was positive and that he hoped Europe would 'open up' to trade with the US, even as he repeated a threat to impose trade terms if no agreement emerges. 'I have just been informed that the EU has called to quickly establish meeting dates. This is a positive event, and I hope that they will, FINALLY, like my same demand to China, open up the European Nations for Trade with the United States of America,' Trump wrote on his social media platform. Over the weekend, Trump walked back a threat to impose 50 per cent tariffs on goods from the region beginning June 1 after 'a very nice call' with EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The reversal helped power global stocks higher on Tuesday, with US indexes recouping their losses from late last week. The S&P 500 Index was up 2 per cent in mid-afternoon trading, its biggest gain in two weeks. Ahead of the talks, members of the Confederation of European Business, also known as BusinessEurope, an alliance of 42 federations across the region, received a survey from the European Commission on Monday. It requested information on upcoming US investments with an instruction to respond as soon as possible, one source said. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up A similar note seeking information on investment plans for the next five years was sent to the 59-person European Round Table for Industry, a second source said, with a note that the request came personally from von der Leyen. The roundtable's members include the CEOs of companies ranging from chip equipment maker ASML to chemicals group BASF, software company SAP, and automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz. BusinessEurope's members include employer and industry associations representing an equally wide range of companies, notably Germany's auto sector, as well as the aerospace and pharmaceutical industries. BusinessEurope confirmed it had been contacted to assist with collecting the most recent data on European investment in the US to demonstrate the importance of EU-US economic ties. The European Round Table for Industry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the Commission declined to comment. The sources asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the issue. Uncertainty saps investor appetite The Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation European Union, is stepping up efforts to secure a deal with the United States to end US import tariffs on EU goods, or at least prevent any increases. The Commission is trying to establish what might satisfy Trump, having offered a deal in which both sides move to zero tariffs on industrial goods, and the EU buys more soybeans, arms and liquefied natural gas. Trump has made clear a chief goal of his tariffs is to re-industrialise the United States, towards which European corporate investment could contribute. Some of the biggest investment announcements from Europe so far have come from the pharmaceutical sector, with Swiss pharma companies Roche and Novartis pledging US$50 billion and US$23 billion respectively. France's Sanofi has said it wants to invest at least US$20 billion through 2030. However, further plans are under threat by Trump's executive order on drug pricing, Roche flagged earlier in May. At least seven other European companies have said they would increase investments in the US, but gave no specific details on spending plans, a Reuters review of releases and executive comments on earnings conference calls over the last two months shows. A survey by Germany's Chamber of Commerce and Industry this month found that 24 per cent of companies planned higher investments in the US in the coming year, but 29 per cent were reducing their investments. An industry association source speaking on condition of anonymity said the uncertainty caused by Trump's volatile policy announcements had reduced interest in US investment. Italian tyre maker Pirelli said it had to suspend plans to invest further in the US as it needed to ease tensions with Chinese state-owned group Sinochem, one of its major shareholders. Asean: No beggar-thy-neighbour South-east Asian leaders, meanwhile, on Tuesday agreed that any bilateral deals they might strike with the US would not harm the economies of fellow members. Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said there was consensus during an Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur that any deals negotiated with Washington would ensure the interests of the region as a whole were protected. South-east Asia is among the regions hardest hit by the tariffs, with six of its countries facing levies of between 32 per cent and 49 per cent in July if negotiations on reductions fail. 'While proceeding with bilateral negotiations ... the consensus rose to have some sort of understanding with Asean that decisions should not be at the expense of any other country,' said Anwar, who on Monday said he had written to Trump requesting an Asean-US meeting on the tariffs. 'So we will have to protect the turf of 650 or 660 million people,' he said of Asean. REUTERS
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
EU-US Trade Deal Hopes to Boost These ETFs
After logging a weekly decline, Wall Street is set to rebound on the likelihood of an EU-US trade deal following the tariff delays. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, Invesco QQQ QQQ, Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK, Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLI and Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF VGK are set for big moves. The European Union agreed to accelerate tariff negotiations with the United States, easing fears of a trans-Atlantic trade war. The decision came after President Trump announced that the United States would postpone the implementation of a 50% tariff increase on all EU products, from June 1 to July 9, to allow time for further a social media post on Friday, Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on EU goods, criticizing the 27-member bloc as 'very difficult to deal with' on trade and claiming that negotiations were 'going nowhere.' The tariffs were set to take effect on June 1. Additionally, Trump warned that all smartphones made outside the country, including Apple's AAPL iPhone and Samsung devices, could soon face a 25% import tax if not manufactured in the United States (read: Volatility ETFs Spike on Renewed Trump Tariff Threats). SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY)SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust holds 504 stocks in its basket, with each accounting for no more than 7% of the assets. This suggests a nice balance across each security and prevents heavy concentration. The fund is widely spread across sectors with information technology, financials, healthcare and consumer discretionary accounting for a double-digit allocation each. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust has an AUM of $608 billion and charges 9 bps in fees per year. It trades in an average daily volume of 65 million shares and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a Medium risk outlook (see: all the Large Cap Blend ETFs here).Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ)Invesco QQQ Trust provides exposure to the 101 largest domestic and international non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq by tracking the Nasdaq 100 Index. It is one of the largest and most popular ETFs in the large-cap space, with an AUM of $330.5 billion and an average daily volume of 44.3 million shares. QQQ charges investors 20 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a Medium risk Sector SPDR Technology ETF (XLK)Select Sector SPDR Technology ETF is the most popular and liquid ETF in the technology space, with AUM of $72.4 billion and an average daily volume of 5 million shares. It offers broad exposure to the technology sector and follows the Technology Select Sector Index. Select Sector SPDR Technology ETF holds about 69 securities in its basket and charges 8 bps in fees per year from investors. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a Medium risk outlook (read: 3 ETF Strategies to Follow on Temporary U.S.-China Trade Deal).Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI)Industrial Select Sector SPDR targets the broad industrial sector and follows the Industrial Select Sector Index. XLI holds 79 stocks in its basket and is well spread out across sectors, with aerospace & defense, machinery, and ground transportation making up for a double-digit share each. Industrial Select Sector SPDR is the most popular ETF with AUM of $21 billion and an average daily volume of around 7 million shares. It charges 8 bps in fees per year and has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 with a Medium risk FTSE Europe ETF (VGK)Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF offers exposure to companies located in the major markets of Europe by tracking the FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. It holds a broad basket of 1241 stocks with key holdings in financials, industrials, health care, and consumer discretionary sectors. Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF has AUM of $25.1 billion and trades in an average daily volume of 3.5 million shares. It charges 6 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 with a Medium risk outlook. While the delay in tariff implementation has provided a temporary reprieve, investors should brace for more volatility ahead as the potential for a trade war has not completely dissipated. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Invesco QQQ (QQQ): ETF Research Reports SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): ETF Research Reports Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK): ETF Research Reports Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI): ETF Research Reports Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK): ETF Research Reports This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
