Latest news with #EUUSRelations
Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
EU hopes for Trump tariff deal by July deadline after ‘good exchange'
President Donald Trump yesterday said the US was close to finalising several trade pacts. (AP pic) BRUSSELS : The European Union still aims to reach a trade deal with the US by July 9 after commission president Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump had a 'good exchange', a commission spokesman said today. It was not immediately clear, however, whether there had been a meaningful breakthrough in talks to stave off the imposition of sweeping tariff hikes on the US' largest trading partner. The clock is ticking down on a deadline for countries around the world to conclude deals with the US after Trump unleashed a global trade war that has roiled financial markets and sent policymakers scrambling to protect their economies. Trump touts tariff progress As he keeps much of the world guessing, Trump yesterday said the US was close to finalising several trade pacts in coming days and would notify other countries by July 9 of higher tariff rates. He said they would not take effect until Aug 1, a three-week reprieve. He also put members of the developing nations' BRICS group in his sights as its leaders met in Brazil, threatening an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the 'anti-American' policies. The BRICS group comprises Brazil, Russia, India and China and South Africa along with recent joiners Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the UAE. The EU has been torn over whether to push for a quick and light trade deal or back its own economic clout in trying to negotiate a better outcome. It had already dropped hopes for a comprehensive trade agreement before the July deadline. 'We want to reach a deal with the U.S. We want to avoid tariffs,' the spokesman told reporters at a daily briefing. 'We want to achieve win-win outcomes, not lose-lose outcomes.' In trade deals, 'time is money' Without a preliminary agreement, broad US tariffs on most imports would rise from their current 10% to the rates set out by Trump on April 2. In the EU's case that would be 20%. Von der Leyen also held talks with the leaders of Germany, France and Italy at the weekend, Germany said. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly stressed the need for a quick deal to protect industries vulnerable to tariffs ranging from cars to pharmaceuticals. 'Time is money in the truest sense of the word,' the German spokesman told reporters in Berlin. 'In this respect, we should give ourselves another 24 or 48 hours to come to a decision.' Russia said the BRICS group had never tried to undermine other countries. 'It is very important to note here that the uniqueness of a group like BRICS is that it is a group of countries that share common approaches and a common world view on how to cooperate, based on their own interests,' said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. 'And this cooperation within BRICS has never been and will never be directed against any third countries.'
Irish Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
EU working ‘day and night' for tariff deal, Ursula von der Leyen says
The European Union is working 'day and night' to finalise a deal with the United States, to head off steep tariffs on transatlantic trade, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said. Officials in the commission, who are leading the trade negotiations, believe an 'agreement in principle' may be imminent, possibly as early as the coming days. The two sides had been working towards a July 9th deadline set by US president Donald Trump, which he later extended to August 1st. Mr Trump had threatened that higher tariffs of 20 or even 50 per cent, would be charged on nearly all goods coming from the EU into the US, if a trade deal was not agreed by then. High-level contacts between the commission and the Trump administration have picked up in recent days. READ MORE EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who has been the main interlocutor with senior US officials, spoke to US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday, and was due to talk to trade representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday. The contacts follow a phone call between Dr von der Leyen and Mr Trump on Sunday, which the commission president said helped 'move things forward'. A relatively basic 'agreement in principle' being worked out would see 10 per cent tariffs on products sold from the EU into the US since April remaining in place, with some possible exemptions for the aviation and spirits sector. 'We are working closely with the US administration to get an agreement,' Dr von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Wednesday. The commission was working 'day and night' to land a deal, the German politician said. 'We are looking for a reliable framework from which we can keep building our common trade,' she said. 'We stick to our principles, we defend our interests, we continue the work in good faith, and we get ready for all scenarios,' she told MEPs. The deal may get over the line this week, despite the three-week extension, officials said. 'The United States has moved its deadline for finalising deals with partner countries to the 1st of August, however, we aim to reach a deal before then, potentially even in the coming days,' a commission spokesman said. Separately, the European economy will still be expected to grow, but at a slower rate, should an EU-US trade deal lock in blanket tariffs of 10 per cent, the European Central Bank's top economist Philip Lane has said. Higher tariffs Mr Trump has threatened to levy on trade, in the event a deal was not agreed, would likely result in 'a significant slow down' in Europe, he said. Mr Lane, a former governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, said the ECB had examined the outlook if existing 'universal' duties of 10 per cent charged on EU products, and higher rates on steel and cars sold to the US, remained in place. 'If that turns out to be more or less the destination for EU-US trade, we think the European economy will grow more slowly compared to the default of free trade, of what we had before,' he said. 'There is momentum in the European economy, we have employment growing, we have wages growing. We see consumption picking up now that interest rates have come down, we're seeing investments pick up more than it was for the last couple of years,' he said. Speaking in Brussels, Mr Lane said the outcome of US negotiations with Asian countries, where Mr Trump has threatened to levy tariffs of between 25 and 40 per cent, would have some 'spill over' impact on the European economy.
CNA
09-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Steven Okun on Trump's tariff war
The European Union says its working closely with US President Trump to strike a trade deal in the next few days. The European Commission chief reported a good conversation with the American leader. But Ursula von der Leyen is standing firm on national interests, with the European Union prepared for all scenarios. CNA's Loke Wei Sue speaks with Steven Okun, CEO of APAC Advisors, on the tariff war.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU seeks trade deal with Trump this month, new tariff notices due
By Andrea Shalal and Julia Payne WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said it was working on sealing a trade deal with the United States by the end of the month, while U.S. President Donald Trump promised that he would deliver further tariff notices on unnamed countries on Wednesday. Trump broadened out a trade war that has cast a shadow over the global economic outlook when he said on Tuesday he would impose a 50% tariff on imported copper and soon introduce long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Trump said late on Tuesday that "a minimum of seven" tariff notices would be released on Wednesday morning, and more in the afternoon. He gave no other details in his Truth Social post. The threat came a day after he pressured 14 trading partners, including powerhouse U.S. suppliers South Korea and Japan, with tariff letters imposing levies of 25% and upwards to take effect from August 1. NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE EU Trump said trade talks have been going well with China and the European Union, which is the biggest bilateral trading partner of the U.S. Trump said he would "probably" tell the EU within two days what rate it could expect for its exports to the U.S., adding that the 27-nation EU had become much more cooperative. "They treated us very badly until recently, and now they're treating us very nicely. It's like a different world, actually," he said. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave a guarded response. "We stick to our principles, we defend our interests, we continue to work in good faith, and we get ready for all scenarios," von der Leyen told the European Parliament. A European Commission spokesperson said that the EU aimed to reach a trade deal before August 1, potentially even in the coming days. However, Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti warned that talks between the two sides were "very complicated" and could continue right up to the deadline. HIGHEST TARIFF LEVELS SINCE 1934 Equity markets shrugged off Trump's latest tariff salvo on Wednesday, while the yen remained on the back foot after the levies set for Japan. Following Trump's announcement of higher tariffs for imports from the 14 countries, U.S. research group Yale Budget Lab estimated consumers face an effective U.S. tariff rate of 17.6%, up from 15.8% previously and the highest in nine decades. Trump's administration has been touting those tariffs as a significant revenue source. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington has taken in about $100 billion so far and could collect $300 billion by the end of the year. The United States has taken in about $80 billion annually in tariff revenue in recent years. Trump's administration promised "90 deals in 90 days" after he unveiled an array of country-specific duties in early April. So far only two agreements have been reached, with Britain and Vietnam. Trump has said a deal with India was close.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU seeks trade deal with Trump this month, new tariff notices due
By Andrea Shalal and Julia Payne WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said it was working on sealing a trade deal with the United States by the end of the month, while U.S. President Donald Trump promised that he would deliver further tariff notices on unnamed countries on Wednesday. Trump broadened out a trade war that has cast a shadow over the global economic outlook when he said on Tuesday he would impose a 50% tariff on imported copper and soon introduce long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Trump said late on Tuesday that "a minimum of seven" tariff notices would be released on Wednesday morning, and more in the afternoon. He gave no other details in his Truth Social post. The threat came a day after he pressured 14 trading partners, including powerhouse U.S. suppliers South Korea and Japan, with tariff letters imposing levies of 25% and upwards to take effect from August 1. NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE EU Trump said trade talks have been going well with China and the European Union, which is the biggest bilateral trading partner of the U.S. Trump said he would "probably" tell the EU within two days what rate it could expect for its exports to the U.S., adding that the 27-nation EU had become much more cooperative. "They treated us very badly until recently, and now they're treating us very nicely. It's like a different world, actually," he said. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave a guarded response. "We stick to our principles, we defend our interests, we continue to work in good faith, and we get ready for all scenarios," von der Leyen told the European Parliament. A European Commission spokesperson said that the EU aimed to reach a trade deal before August 1, potentially even in the coming days. However, Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti warned that talks between the two sides were "very complicated" and could continue right up to the deadline. HIGHEST TARIFF LEVELS SINCE 1934 Equity markets shrugged off Trump's latest tariff salvo on Wednesday, while the yen remained on the back foot after the levies set for Japan. Following Trump's announcement of higher tariffs for imports from the 14 countries, U.S. research group Yale Budget Lab estimated consumers face an effective U.S. tariff rate of 17.6%, up from 15.8% previously and the highest in nine decades. Trump's administration has been touting those tariffs as a significant revenue source. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington has taken in about $100 billion so far and could collect $300 billion by the end of the year. The United States has taken in about $80 billion annually in tariff revenue in recent years. Trump's administration promised "90 deals in 90 days" after he unveiled an array of country-specific duties in early April. So far only two agreements have been reached, with Britain and Vietnam. Trump has said a deal with India was close.
