Latest news with #EUnegotiations
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Lutnick downplays tariff court ruling impact on US-EU talks
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick downplayed the impact of legal uncertainty around US tariffs on negotiations with the European Union during an interview with Fox News on Sunday, saying talks were ongoing. Lutnick was asked about a Reuters report quoting an unnamed EU official close to negotiations who said the legal uncertainty of the tariffs in the US gave the EU 'extra leverage.' 'You can't listen to silly people making silly comments,' Lutnick said. 'All of the countries that are negotiating with us understand the power of Donald Trump and his ability to protect the American worker.' A US trade court blocked most of President Donald Trump's tariffs in a sweeping ruling last week that found the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from American trading partners. A US federal appeals court paused that ruling a day later, allowing the tariffs to go into effect while it considered an appeal by the Trump administration. READ MORE Lutnick said the ruling 'maybe cost us a week, but then everybody came right back to the table.' Trump in late May threatened 50 per cent tariffs on all European goods by June 1st but days later delayed the effective date to July 9th to allow for time to negotiate. Trump also said on Friday that he would increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50 per cent from 25 per cent, leading the European Commission on Saturday to say it could consider countermeasures. Speaking on ABC News, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the US needed to protect its steel industry for national security reasons in light of economic rival China's steel production. 'We have to show strength,' Hassett said. 'We have to have a steel industry that's ready for American defence.' Meanwhile US Treasury Secretary Bessent said he believes President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak soon to iron out trade issues including a dispute over critical minerals. US President Donald Trump on Friday accused China of violating an agreement to mutually roll back tariffs and trade restrictions for critical minerals. 'What China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe. And that is not what a reliable partner does,' Bessent said in an interview on Sunday with CBS. 'I am confident that when President Trump and Party Chairman Xi have a call, that this will be ironed out. But the fact that they are withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement – maybe it's a glitch in the Chinese system, maybe it's intentional. We'll see after the President speaks with the party chairman.' – Reuters
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Lutnick downplays impact of tariff court ruling on US, EU talks
WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick downplayed the impact of legal uncertainty around U.S. tariffs on negotiations with the European Union during an interview with Fox News Sunday, saying talks were ongoing. Lutnick was asked about a Reuters report quoting an unnamed EU official close to negotiations who said the legal uncertainty of the tariffs in the U.S. gave the E.U. "extra leverage." "You can't listen to silly people making silly comments," Lutnick said. "All of the countries that are negotiating with us understand the power of Donald Trump and his ability to protect the American worker." A U.S. trade court blocked most of President Donald Trump's tariffs in a sweeping ruling last week that found the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from U.S. trading partners. A U.S. federal appeals court paused that ruling a day later, allowing the tariffs to go into effect while it considered an appeal by the Trump administration. Lutnick said the ruling "maybe cost us a week, but then everybody came right back to the table." Trump in late May threatened 50% tariffs on all European goods by June 1 but days later delayed the effective date to July 9 to allow for time to negotiate. Trump also said on Friday that he would increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, leading the European Commission on Saturday to say it could consider countermeasures. Speaking on ABC News' 'This Week,' White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the U.S. needed to protect its steel industry for national security reasons in light of economic rival China's steel production. "We have to show strength," Hassett said. "We have to have a steel industry that's ready for American defense."
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Starmer's EU reset triggers outbreak of Brexit derangement syndrome
Euphoric recall. Or more likely PTSD. It was like we were in a time warp. Back in the madness of the Brexit years. When otherwise sensible people lost all sense of reason. And when the mad became madder still. The days of betrayal and surrender. When our closest allies for the previous 70 years became our deadliest enemy. Time to stare them down. Britons never, never, never shall be slaves. We take no shit from anyone. Keir Starmer's EU reset went to the wire. Of course it did. Every negotiation with Brussels always does. It's in the terms and conditions. There was no way the EU was going to give away something on agricultural standards without getting something on fishing in return. You don't want to encourage other countries to believe they will get a better deal by leaving the EU. Even by the time of the final communique there were still plenty of loose ends. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Remember that? Argh! Still that didn't stop some of the Brexit lunatics from voicing their opinions long before even an outline of a deal was announced. They already had their narrative. This was a surrender on an unforgivable scale. Daniel – unbelievably now Lord – Hannan was writing on X that Britain had become Europe's very own gimp. Squeezed into a black leather jump suit with a ball in our mouth. Sometimes you wish Danny would keep his fantasies to himself. Then there was David – unbelievably now Lord – Frost. What is it about Brexit that led to so many people who had objectively made British citizens less well off getting promoted to the upper chamber? Frosty the No Man was desperately trying to rewrite history. Again. He has been doing that for more than five years now. Our very own Lady Macbeth trying to wash away the blood. Boris Johnson's Brexit negotiator whose whole life is now devoted to trying to uncover the person who negotiated such a bad deal. He was trying to persuade himself that he had always known his fishing deal was rubbish but that the EU would cut him some slack now because they felt sorry for him. The man needs help. It's as if every Brexiter has had a memory wipe. Has no recollection of how deals are made. That the essence of any negotiation is give and take. That there need to be rules which both sides are obliged to follow. But this was also too much for Boris. He went mad on gimp masks too. God knows what you might find in his internet search history. Let's hope Carrie hasn't been keeping tabs on him. Here was how the world worked. Britain was at the top, telling every other country what to do. Anything else would be a total betrayal of our sovereignty. Come late Monday morning, a deal of sorts had been negotiated and António Costa, the president of the European Council; Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and Keir Starmer were ready to face the media at the Lancaster House press conference. Costa went first. Trying to put everyone to sleep. He has the air of someone who has grown used to the fact that he seldom says anything interesting. It's how he got the job. Everything was marvellous, he mumbled. This was a new chapter. Von der Leyen was slightly more animated. She was pleased the EU and the UK had reached solutions. We were entering a new era of post-Brexit relations. A security and defence partnership. A deal on energy, fish and food. The youth experience scheme. Downgraded from a youth mobility scheme. A sop to the Brits. On no account should anyone think the UK had backtracked on free movement. Better to think of overseas students living entirely in virtual reality. Then came Keir. Flushed with success after his trade deals with India and the US. This was a triumph. No return to the single market or the customs union. But the next best thing. A reminder that British fishers sell more than 70% of their catch to the EU as we don't like the ones they are selling. It was time to look forward to the future. To move on from the same stale old fights. Though it was the past the British media wanted to interrogate. Hadn't we surrendered to the EU? We had sold out our fishers. We had become a nation of rule-takers. Brexit derangement syndrome had gripped the broadcasters. Keir gently reminded everyone he was creating jobs, facilitating trade and growth. Even after nine years, it was still too soon to say the obvious. That Britain had voted to make itself poorer. That Brexiters had radicalised themselves. No one had been insisting we leave the single market and the customs union during the referendum campaign. That had only become a truth some time later. So all Starmer was trying to do was to make the country just a little bit better off. You'd have thought from the reaction that this was a major schism. GB News could barely contain itself. The Tories were threatening to undo all this, the reporter quavered. Er … How exactly? They aren't about to win an election any time soon. If ever. As if to prove how unserious the Conservatives have become, Kemi Badenoch chose to call a press conference in a broom cupboard in the afternoon. Just to embarrass herself. The broadcasters could barely be bothered to cover it as the sound continued to cut out. We could have been underwater. Not waving but drowning. Priti Patel went first. Luckily for her she was totally inaudible. She will appreciate this in later years. Then came Kemi, declaring that Starmer had broken her five golden rules. Rules that even her own MPs don't know or care about. Rules that even the Victorians would have thought nuts. Most Brexit voters now think Brexit was a bad idea. They just want things to return to how they were without anyone reminding them that they had voted for it. We ended with Victoria Atkins and the fish. Vicky had a pet hake who was determined to gasp out his manifesto. 'I, Harry the Hake, do solemnly declare that I will live and die British. I would rather be left to rot on the jetty than be fed to some Frenchie or Kraut. God save the queen. Sorry king.' It had been that kind of a day.
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Keir Starmer makes HUGE concession as Brexit ‘surrender' deal agreed – with UK dragged back into shackles of Europe
SIR Keir Starmer's Brexit 'surrender summit' deal has been agreed this morning - and the PM has already made a huge concession. The UK has been locked in late-night negotiations with Europe to nail down the terms of a UK-EU reset. 1 Critics have dubbed negotiations a "surrender summit" - dragging Britain back into the shackles of Europe which Brexit freed us from. And this morning, it was revealed Keir Starmer has given European fishermen access to British waters for 12 years. By tying Britain back up in EU red tape, the UK would be placed under the jurisdiction of European courts — a major reversal of the Brexit promise. Bending the knee to Brussels, the arrangement is also expected to once more fling open British waters to French trawlers and concede to the bloc on food standards. 2 minutes ago By Martina Bet 'Fish for food' signed The 'fish for food' agreement was signed off by all 27 EU member states in Brussels ahead of a UK-EU summit in London today. Sir Keir will unveil the pact alongside European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. British negotiators initially offered just four years, having previously pushed for annual talks, but relented in late-night wrangling. The original post-Brexit deal signed in 2020 granted EU fleets access for five years. But that time limit has now more than doubled under the new terms. 4 minutes ago By Martina Bet Starmer "reset" deal with EU The Prime Minister has handed EU fishermen access to UK waters until 2038 in a dramatic last-minute Brexit 'reset' deal, it is understood. British boats face being pushed aside for more than a decade after the PM caved to EU demands for a 12-year fishing rights pact - more than double the current five-year arrangement. In return, Brussels agreed to a permanent Swiss-style veterinary deal to cut border checks and boost trade - with Britain signing up to follow EU rules on plant and animal health. This means UK food exporters will face fewer delays at borders, but at the cost of aligning with EU standards and accepting European Court of Justice oversight on those specific rules.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Last-gasp EU demand for 10 years of fishing rights: Ambush over trawlers hits negotiations on 'reset' deal with Brussels
Brussels increased its demands over fishing rights last night, delaying the expected agreement of a deal with Britain. Led by France, the European Union had called for a roll-over of the current five-year deal that grants its trawlermen access to UK coastal waters. But at the last minute the negotiators said the arrangement should last far longer in return for lifting existing post-Brexit checks on lorry loads of food and animal products being exported from Britain to the continent. One source told the Mail that the EU had suddenly asked for permanent access to British fish as a quid pro quo for Sir Keir Starmer being granted a so-called Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement that would see red tape for exporters lifted indefinitely. Another insider said Brussels had put an offer of 'a decade of fish' on the table – access to UK waters for ten years – in return for scrapping the lorry checks. A diplomat told the Telegraph that the EU wanted 'double-digit' years of fishing rights, sending the negotiations continuing late into last night and dashing hopes that the deal could be agreed early. The Tories set out a series of 'red lines' last night that they will apply to any deal Labour makes on fishing as part of its EU reset. They said the Government 'must make it clear that giving up any rights to UK waters and natural resources would represent a betrayal to British fishermen, a surrender of our sovereignty and a long-term risk to our food security'. They also said British fishermen should have exclusive access to a zone 12 nautical miles from the coast, adding: 'We must not sign a multi-year agreement which only benefits France. 'We should adopt the international norm and claim the regulatory autonomy of annual negotiations or only agree a multi-year deal that favours our fishing communities across the UK.' Former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost told the Mail: 'Conceding permanent EU access to our fishing grounds would be a disastrous sign of weakness. 'It would essentially take us back to membership of the much-hated Common Fisheries Policy. The Government should hang tough in the interests of British fishermen, though I have little expectation that they will.' Tory environment spokesman Victoria Atkins said: 'Labour must not sacrifice our coastal communities in their 'closing-down sale' of British Brexit freedoms with the EU. 'We will not accept any deal that throws our fishing industries overboard with cut quotas or selling off permanent rights to the EU. The Government should be going into these negotiations proud of our country, its history and its future. Instead, they seem set on apologising, grovelling and selling off the UK's fishing treasures.' Critics also warned that millions of young migrants could come to Britain unless ministers secured strict limits as part of negotiations with Brussels. The EU wants the Government to set up a youth-mobility scheme letting young adults from across the continent – most likely those aged 18 to 35 – live, work and study in the UK for up to three years. Eurocrats have allegedly refused to include the word 'cap' in the text of the agreement due to be unveiled today in what has been dubbed Sir Keir Starmer's 'surrender summit' in London. And the UK has failed to confirm any limit on the numbers arriving, although ministers insisted yesterday that any arrangement would be 'controlled'. Critics pointed out that wages are lower in many parts of the EU and joblessness is higher, making the scheme an attractive prospect to many of the estimated 80million Europeans who would be eligible to take it up. The youth unemployment rate stands at 26 per cent in Spain, for instance, compared with 14 per cent in the UK. Such a deal risks pushing up net migration again, angering voters and posing a political risk to Sir Keir a week after he vowed to cut the number of those settling in the UK. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart told Sky News: 'There are obviously very considerable disadvantages to the UK if this deal is done in the wrong way. When people hear about a youth-mobility scheme, they think about an 18-year-old coming over working at a bar. But we may well be looking at a scheme which allows 30-year-olds to come over and gain access to the NHS on day one, to claim benefits on day one to bring their extended families.' The UK's deal negotiator, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, denied the scheme would betray Brexit. He said: 'It isn't freedom of movement. We have 13 existing youth-mobility schemes. We've got a scheme with Uruguay – nobody suggests we've got freedom of movement with Uruguay.' However that deal is limited to 500 people each year. Challenged to explain comments by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who indicated she opposed an EU youth mobility scheme, he replied: 'It's absolutely the policy of the Government is that we are going to reduce net migration. Lib Dem Europe spokesman James MacCleary said: 'We've been hounding the Government for months to sort out a capped youth mobility scheme, but they've been dragging their heels.' What's at stake - the six key sticking points: 1. Free movement for young Europeans The EU wants a youth-mobility scheme to give those aged 18 to 35 or so from across the bloc the right to live, work and study in Britain for three years. For months the UK denied this was a possibility. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is known to have opposed it because of the impact it would have on politically toxic immigration figures. But ministers belatedly admitted it was indeed on the table. They have insisted it does not constitute a return to 'free movement' and pointed out that the UK already has similar arrangements with other countries. But critics say these are far smaller and argue that without a strict cap – which the EU is reportedly reluctant to include – hundreds of thousands of young adults would want to move to Britain from parts of Europe where wages are lower and unemployment is higher. 2. Cheaper fees for foreign students As a result of Brexit, undergraduates from EU countries studying at English universities are now charged uncapped international rates rather than the £9,250 tuition fees paid by domestic students. Senior figures in Brussels are said to have called for EU students to pay the lower fees once more. However, this would be a blow to university vice-chancellors, who have already seen crucial income from foreign students slashed because of last year's visa restrictions. 3. Following EU rules... and judges One of Labour's main demands in the talks has been to cut red tape for firms exporting food and animal products to the continent. Known as a Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement, it should end most of the border checks that have held lorries up for as long as 16 hours on their way to the continent. Ministers hope this may lead to lower prices for shoppers. But it will also mean Britain must once more sign up to EU rules and update them as they change – so-called dynamic alignment – which ended with Brexit. Any disputes would again have to be resolved by the European Court of Justice. 4. French boats catching our fish Britain's fishermen had hoped Brexit would mean they could reclaim UK waters, but under the original deal struck by the Conservatives, EU boats were granted continued access. This is due to end in 2026 and the EU has been arguing it should become permanent, with France even suggesting a 'hard link' between fishing rights and the UK's access to defence contracts. The Tories say ministers must not agree to a lengthy deal that only benefits France. 5. British troops on Brussels missions Military co-operation was not a feature of the Brexit deal, but Labour wants a defence and security pact in its reset with Brussels. Ministers are keen for UK arms firms to gain access to the £126million Security Action for Europe fund, set up by Brussels to help EU nations spend more on weapons. A diplomatic source told The Mail on Sunday Britain could have to pay 'hundreds of millions' for access. Some fear the Defence and Security Partnership could mean British servicemen taking part in EU civilian and military operations. 6. Passport queues at EU airports Since Brexit, UK holidaymakers and business travellers have faced long waits at airport passport barriers because they could no longer queue with EU citizens. For frequent fliers it has been one of the most visible consequences of Brexit. Ministers want Brussels to let UK citizens use 'e-gates' reserved for EU passport holders, which would mean quicker transit times and a tangible sign of improved relations with the EU.
