Latest news with #PhilipBlenkinsop
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU says it will make strong case for US tariff cuts this week
By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission said on Monday it would make a strong case this week for the United States to reduce or eliminate tariffs even after Donald Trump said he would double import duties on steel and aluminium to 50%. European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at an OECD gathering in Paris on Wednesday, while Commission technical teams will be in discussions with counterparts in Washington this week. The Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation European Union, said it was prioritising negotiations to resolve the conflict. "We don't want to go down the route of tariffs. Rather than have them increase, we want them to decrease and where possible eliminate them," a Commission spokesperson told a press conference on Monday. "That remains the case, that remains our priority. We will be making that case strongly both at technical level and at political level this week." The EU has said it strongly regrets the planned doubling of steel tariffs. The EU currently faces 25% tariffs on steel and cars and for Trump and "reciprocal" tariffs on most EU goods, which were provisionally set at 20% for the EU but is being held at 10% during a 90-day pause until July. The EU imposed, but immediately suspended, a first set of counter tariffs on 21 billion euros ($24 billion) of annual U.S. imports package in response to U.S. metals duties. It is also weighing a response to the U.S. car and broader tariffs that would hit up to 95 billion euros of U.S. imports. The Commission said that, in the absence of a mutually acceptable solution, these countermeasures would take effect automatically on July 14, or earlier if circumstances require. ($1 = 0.8759 euros)
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After reprieve, EU still in fix to find trade deal to satisfy Trump
By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union may have won a reprieve from U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 50% tariffs, but it remains unclear how the bloc will square its push for a mutually beneficial trade deal with Washington's demands for steep concessions. Trump backed away from imposing the levies on EU imports from June 1 after a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, restoring a July 9 deadline to allow talks between the U.S. and the 27-nation union to produce a deal. The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the EU, said the call had added new impetus to the negotiations, which the two presidents had agreed to fast track. There was little indication, however, of what, if any, progress Trump and von der Leyen had made towards clearing a path to a negotiated solution to the trade dispute. The EU is pushing for a mutually beneficial deal that could include both sides moving to zero tariffs on industrial goods, and the EU buying more soybeans, arms and liquefied natural gas as it phases out all Russian gas imports by the end of 2027. One EU official said the EU could even buy more hormone-free beef, as Britain did in a trade deal it struck with the U.S. earlier this month. The European Commission said on Monday it would make a forceful case for its "zero-for-zero" tariff offer, including in a call planned on Monday between European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. "We believe that's a very attractive starting point for a good negotiation that could lead to benefits on both sides of the Atlantic," a Commission spokesperson said. The EU also sees possible cooperation on issues such as steel overcapacity, which both sides blame on China, and digital technology such as AI. The EU wants to see an end to 25% tariffs on steel and cars and for Trump to drop his so-called "reciprocal" tariff, which was provisionally set at 20% for the EU but is being held at 10% during a 90-day pause until July. GOODS DEFICIT FIXATION Washington, however, is intent on reducing its goods trade deficit with the EU, which was almost 200 billion euros ($228 billion) last year, though it does have a sizeable, albeit smaller, trade surplus in services. It has sent Brussels a list of demands, identifying so-called non-tariff barriers it wants addressed, including value-added tax, EU food safety standards and national digital services taxes. An industry source familiar with the negotiations said Trump wanted a quick deal with a mixture of tangible and symbolic wins, but his administration was asking for concessions far beyond what the EU was willing, or even able, to agree on. Taxes, for example, are the competence of individual EU member countries, so the Commission cannot simply negotiate them away. In some areas, Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament's trade committee, who is leading a group of lawmakers to Washington this week, said the U.S. saw trade barriers where none exist. "It's about our standards, our chemicals regulation and our digital regulation," he said before his trip. "These are not non-tariff barriers. This is not on the table of negotiations." The EU could look at specific regulations to see if they might be excessive, he said, but it would not simply adopt all U.S. standards, as the White House appeared to be demanding. The Trump administration has also said it wants manufacturing - particularly for products such as steel, cars, mobile phones and semiconductors - to relocate to the United States. Irish agriculture minister Martin Heydon said on Monday the EU was right to push for a mutually beneficial deal, and Trump's frustration that the EU had not "just rolled over" was almost a compliment for the EU position. "We are one of the most important trading partners for the U.S. So we shouldn't just agree to whatever the demand is from the White House. We should negotiate and explain that mutually beneficial nature of the trade," he said. ($1 = 0.8786 euros)
Mint
23-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Trump threatens new tariffs on European Union, Apple, reigniting trade fears
Trump threatens 25% tariff on non-US made iPhones Proposed tariff on Apple would also apply to Samsung, Trump says President says, 'I'm not looking for a deal' with the EU Stocks fall in US and Europe; dollar down, gold up Apple's planned US investments do not include iPhone production By Philip Blenkinsop, David Lawder, Stephanie van den Berg BRUSSELS/BANFF, Canada/THE HAGUE, - U .S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to ratchet up his trade war once again, pushing for a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warning Apple he may slap a 25% levy on all iPhones bought by U.S. consumers. The twin threats, delivered via social media, roiled global markets after weeks of de-escalation had provided some reprieve. Major U.S. indexes and European shares fell, the dollar weakened while the price of gold, a safe-haven for investors, rose. U.S. Treasury yields fell on fears about tariffs' effect on growth. Trump's broadside against the EU was prompted by the White House's belief that negotiations with the bloc are not progressing fast enough. But his saber-rattling also marked a return to Washington's stop-and-start trade war that has shaken markets, businesses and consumers and raised fears of a global economic downturn. The president's attack on Apple, meanwhile, is his latest attempt to pressure a specific company to move production to the United States, following automakers, pharmaceutical companies and chipmakers. However, the United States does not mass-produce smartphones - even as U.S. consumers buy more than 60 million phones annually - and moving production would likely increase the cost of iPhones by hundreds of dollars. Later on Friday, Trump told reporters inside the Oval Office that his proposed tariff on Apple would also apply to "Samsung and anybody that makes that product," apparently referring to smartphones. He said he expected the new phone levy to be in place by the end of June. Trump reiterated his complaint that the European Union treated the U.S. badly and restricted the U.S. from selling cars into the EU. "And I just said, 'It's time that we play the game the way I know how to play the game.'" "I'm not looking for a deal," Trump said when asked whether he expected a deal before June 1. "We've set the deal – it's at 50%. But again, there's no tariff if they build their plant here." EU trade Chief Maros Sefcovic said the European Commission was fully committed to securing a deal that worked for both sides, following a Friday phone call with Speaking to reporters in The Hague, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof backed the EU's strategy in trade talks and said the EU was likely to see this latest announcement as part of the negotiations. "We have seen before that tariffs can go up and down in talks with the U.S.," he said. The White House paused most of the punishing tariffs Trump announced in early April against nearly every country in the world after investors furiously sold off U.S. assets including government bonds and the U.S. dollar. He left in place a 10% baseline tax on most imports, and later reduced his massive 145% tax on Chinese goods to 30%. "My base case is that they are able to reach an agreement, but I am most nervous about negotiations with European Union," said Nathan Sheets, global chief economist at Citigroup in New York. A 50% levy on EU imports could raise consumer prices on everything from German cars to Italian olive oil. EU's total exports to the United States last year totaled about 500 billion euros , led by Germany , Ireland and Italy . Pharmaceuticals, cars and auto parts, chemicals and aircraft were among the largest exports, according to EU data. DISPUTES OVER TARIFFS The White House has been in trade negotiations with numerous countries, but progress has been unsteady. Finance leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies tried to downplay disputes over the tariffs earlier in the week at a forum in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. "The EU is one of Trump's least favorite regions, and he does not seem to have good relations with its leaders, which increases the chance of a prolonged trade war between the two," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. Bessent would not comment on other potential trade deals but said on Fox News that there would be more announced as the end of the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs approaches in July. Shares in German carmakers and luxury companies, some of the most exposed to tariffs, fell. Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters on Friday that customers would have to pay a large part of tariff-related cost increases, and that it could become impossible to import the company's smallest cars to the United States. He remained hopeful that a deal will soon be reached. "It could not be in the interest of Europe or the U.S. to shut down trade between them," Samuelsson said. Apple declined to comment on Trump's threat, which would reverse exclusions he granted on smartphones and other electronics imported largely from China in a break for Big Tech firms that sell consumer goods. Shares fell 3% after Trump said in an early Truth Social post that he told Apple CEO Tim Cook "long ago" that "I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else." Cook and Trump met on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the situation. Apple is speeding up plans to make most iPhones sold in the United States at factories in India by the end of 2026 to navigate potentially higher tariffs in China. But the odds on moving production to the U.S. are slimmer. In February, Apple said it will spend $500 billion over four years in nine American states, but that investment was not intended to bring iPhone manufacturing to the U.S. "It is hard to imagine that Apple can be fully compliant with this request from the president in the next 3-5 years," D.A. Davidson & Co analyst Gil Luria said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU awaits clarity on Trump's 50% tariff threat
By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission sought clarity from the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump recommended on Friday putting a 50% tariff on EU imports from June 1, with Brussels' and Washington's trade chiefs due to talk later. The Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation European Union, said it would not comment on the tariff threat until after a call between European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at 1500 GMT. European stocks tumbled and the euro gave back some gains, while euro zone government bond yields fell sharply after Trump's announcement. "This is a major escalation of trade tensions," said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg. "With Trump, you never know. But this would be a major escalation. The EU would have to react and it is something that would really hurt the U.S. and European economy." The EU already faces 25% U.S. import tariffs on its steel, aluminium and cars and so-called "reciprocal" tariffs of 10% for almost all other goods, a levy that was due to rise to 20% after Trump's 90-day pause expires on July 8. Washington says the tariffs are designed to redress the U.S. deficit in goods trade with the European Union, which was almost 200 billion euros ($226.48 billion) last year, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. But the United States does have a large trade surplus with the EU in services. In the past week, Washington has sent Brussels a list of demands to reduce the deficit, including so-called non-tariff barriers such as by adopting U.S. food safety standards and removing national digital services taxes, according to people familiar with the paper. The EU response has been to offer a mutually beneficial deal that could include both sides moving to zero tariffs on industrial goods, the EU potentially buying more liquefied natural gas and soybeans and cooperating on issues such as steel overcapacity, which both sides blame on China. The Sefcovic-Greer call was planned as a follow-up to these exchanges and ahead of a possible meeting in Paris in early June. Polish deputy economy minister Michal Baranowski, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the 50% tariff threat appeared to be a negotiating ploy. "The European Union and the United States are negotiating. Some negotiate behind closed doors, others more in front of cameras," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels, adding negotiations could last until early July. "The fact that we see some important statements in the public domain does not mean that they will translate into actions of the U.S. administration," he said. The European Commission has repeatedly said it preferred a negotiated solution, but is ready to wield countermeasures if negotiations fail. The bloc put in place, but then suspended, duties on 21 billion euros of annual U.S. imports in response to the U.S. metals tariffs and has compiled a list of 95 billion euros of U.S. goods as countermeasures to the U.S. 'reciprocal' and car tariffs. ($1 = 0.8831 euros)
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU awaits clarity on Trump's 50% tariff threat
By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission sought clarity from the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump recommended on Friday putting a 50% tariff on EU imports from June 1, with Brussels' and Washington's trade chiefs due to talk later. The Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation European Union, said it would not comment on the tariff threat until after a call between European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at 1500 GMT. European stocks tumbled and the euro gave back some gains, while euro zone government bond yields fell sharply after Trump's announcement. "This is a major escalation of trade tensions," said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg. "With Trump, you never know. But this would be a major escalation. The EU would have to react and it is something that would really hurt the U.S. and European economy." The EU already faces 25% U.S. import tariffs on its steel, aluminium and cars and so-called "reciprocal" tariffs of 10% for almost all other goods, a levy that was due to rise to 20% after Trump's 90-day pause expires on July 8. Washington says the tariffs are designed to redress the U.S. deficit in goods trade with the European Union, which was almost 200 billion euros ($226.48 billion) last year, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. But the United States does have a large trade surplus with the EU in services. In the past week, Washington has sent Brussels a list of demands to reduce the deficit, including so-called non-tariff barriers such as by adopting U.S. food safety standards and removing national digital services taxes, according to people familiar with the paper. The EU response has been to offer a mutually beneficial deal that could include both sides moving to zero tariffs on industrial goods, the EU potentially buying more liquefied natural gas and soybeans and cooperating on issues such as steel overcapacity, which both sides blame on China. The Sefcovic-Greer call was planned as a follow-up to these exchanges and ahead of a possible meeting in Paris in early June. Polish deputy economy minister Michal Baranowski, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the 50% tariff threat appeared to be a negotiating ploy. "The European Union and the United States are negotiating. Some negotiate behind closed doors, others more in front of cameras," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels, adding negotiations could last until early July. "The fact that we see some important statements in the public domain does not mean that they will translate into actions of the U.S. administration," he said. The European Commission has repeatedly said it preferred a negotiated solution, but is ready to wield countermeasures if negotiations fail. The bloc put in place, but then suspended, duties on 21 billion euros of annual U.S. imports in response to the U.S. metals tariffs and has compiled a list of 95 billion euros of U.S. goods as countermeasures to the U.S. 'reciprocal' and car tariffs. ($1 = 0.8831 euros)
