Latest news with #USEuropeRelations
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
US steel, aluminum tariff hikes to take effect Wednesday: White House
The United States will double its tariffs on imported steel and aluminum starting Wednesday, according to the White House, as it published an order signed by President Donald Trump. The move marks the latest salvo in Trump's trade wars, bringing levies on both metals from 25 percent to 50 percent. But tariffs on metal imports from the UK will remain at the 25 percent rate, while both sides work out duties and quotas in line with the terms of their earlier trade pact. Overall, the aim is to 'more effectively counter foreign countries that continue to offload low-priced, excess steel and aluminum in the United States,' according to the order, which added that these undercut the competitiveness of US industries. 'Increasing the previously imposed tariffs will provide greater support to these industries and reduce or eliminate the national security threat posed by imports of steel and aluminum articles and their derivative articles,' the order added. Trump announced his decision to hike tariffs on steel and aluminum when he addressed workers at a US Steel plant in Pennsylvania last week. 'Nobody is going to be able to steal your industry,' he said at the time. 'At 25 percent, they can sort of get over that fence. At 50 percent, they can no longer get over the fence,' he added. The move, however, fans tensions with key US trading partners. The European Union warned over the weekend that it was prepared to retaliate against levies. It said that the sudden announcement 'undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution' between the bloc and the United States. Already, Washington is in talks with various countries after Trump imposed sweeping 10 percent tariffs on almost all partners in April and announced even higher rates for dozens of economies. While the steeper levels have been paused during ongoing negotiations, this halt expires in early July—adding to urgency to reach trade deals. Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike in moves that have shaken financial markets. He has also imposed tariffs on sector-specific imports like autos, apart from targeting steel and aluminum. Mexico will request an exemption from the higher tariff, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said, arguing that it is unfair because the United States exports more steel to Mexico than it imports. 'It makes no sense to put a tariff on a product in which you have a surplus,' Ebrard said. Mexico is highly vulnerable to Trump's trade wars because 80 percent of its exports go to the United States, its main trading partner.
The Independent
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
JD Vance denies ‘wedge' has been driven between US and Europe – despite his repeated jabs at America's traditional allies
JD Vance denied that a rift had been driven between the United States and Europe despite the vice president's own repeated broadsides against America's traditional ally. The vice president spoke in a moderated discussion with Wolfgang Ischinger, the head of the Munich Security Conference, on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., three months after he made waves at the organization's conference in Germany. 'I think it's completely ridiculous to think that you're ever going to be able to drive a firm wedge between the United States and Europe,' Vance said. 'It doesn't mean that Europeans won't criticize the United States, the United States won't criticize Europe, but I do think fundamentally we have to be and we are on the same civilizational team.' The discussion came at a crucial moment for President Donald Trump, as the United States seeks to broker an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. So far, the United States has threatened to walk away from peace talks, while Trump has harshly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 'What I would say is, right now, the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict, we think they're asking for too much,' he said. Ischinger mentioned Vance's speech he made back in February in Munich, where he harshly criticized European immigration policy and accused Europe of 'retreating from some of its most fundamental values,' questioning its commitment to free speech and its election integrity. Vance further aggravated Europeans when in a Fox News interview, he criticized the idea of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine. He said the best path forward to peace was to give the United States an economic upside in Ukraine, calling it 'way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 20 or 30 years.' His comments were widely interpreted as referencing Britain and France. Troops from both countries served alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan, and British forces also took part in the war in Iraq. France lost 86 troops in Afghanistan, while Britain lost 454 in Afghanistan and 179 in Iraq. Amid uproar in Europe – which saw British tabloids label him a 'clown' and 'JD Dunce' – Vance said it was 'absurdly dishonest' to say he meant to insult the United Kingdom and France. During his speech on Wednesday, the vice president stressed the need for the US-European alliance. 'I still think that this European Alliance is very important, but I think that for it to be important and for us to be real friends with each other, and I think that we are very much real friends, we've got to talk about the big question,' he said. "I think that it means that all of us, frankly, on both sides of the Atlantic, have gotten a little bit too comfortable with the security posture of the last 20 years, and that, frankly, that security posture is not adequate to meet the challenges of the next 20 years.' He also repeated Trump's calls for European countries to contribute more to their own defense. 'It's not just spending money, as important as that is. It's making sure that the same economic engine that powered first world living standards is actually geared towards producing, God forbid, weapons of war, if those weapons of war are ever necessary,' he said. 'I think this is an area where we're fundamentally right, and I think it's gratifying to see so many of our European friends recognize that and recognize that Europe does really have to play a bigger role in continental defense.' He defended Trump's decision to levy across-the-board tariffs against Europe. 'In the same way that American markets have been open to a lot of European goods, we'd like a lot of European markets to be open to American goods,' he said. Vance said that Trump only enacted his 'liberation day' tariffs that disrupted global markets 30 days ago. 'So we are in the early innings of a very significant shift,' he said. 'I think that shift is going to really endure to the benefit of both the United States, but also of Europe, but fundamentally it has to happen.' Vance has served as something of Trump's attack dog on the global stage, being one of the president's point people on trade deals with Europe and the United Kingdom. At the same time, he also clashed with Prime Minister Keir Starmer about Europe's free speech laws.
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Striking softer tone, Vance says US and Europe on ‘same team'
Striking a notably softer tone than his past remarks on Europe, US Vice-President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday that the United States and the continent are on the same side. Advertisement 'I do still very much think the US and Europe are on the same team,' Vance told the Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington. 'I still think that this European alliance is very important, but I think that for it to be important and for us to be real friends with each other – and I think that we are very much real friends – we've got to talk about the big questions,' he said. Vance shocked Europe when he used a February speech at a security forum in Munich to attack EU policies on immigration and free speech. 01:02 J.D. Vance says 'threat vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China' J.D. Vance says 'threat vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China' The vice-president charged in those remarks that free speech was in retreat across Europe, and that censorship was a bigger threat than Russian or Chinese military aggression.
Reuters
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Vance says US, Europe still on same team but past security posture not adequate for future
WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday said he still believed the United States and Europe were still on the same team, and it was "ridiculous" to think a wedge could be driven between the two longstanding allies. However, Vance told an event hosted by the Munich Security Conference in Washington that the United States and Europe had gotten too comfortable with the security posture of the past 20 years which was not adequate for the next 20 years. "European culture and American culture are very much linked, and they'll always be linked. And I think it's completely ridiculous to think that you're ever going to be able to drive a firm wedge between the United States and Europe," Vance said.
ABC News
07-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Joe Biden likens Donald Trump's Ukraine war diplomacy to 'appeasement' of Russia
Former United States president Joe Biden has warned fragmentation between the US and Europe under Donald Trump's leadership threatens to "change the modern history of the world" for the worse, in his first interview since leaving the White House. "It's a grave concern," he said of a future world without NATO, warning such a scenario would be exploited by anti-Western powers China and Russia. "It would change the modern history of the world, if that occurs. " We are not the essential nation, but we're the only nation in a position to have the capacity to bring people together to lead the world. " Photo shows Kamala Harris delivers a speech standing in front of a white backdrop that says emerge Kamala Harris in her first major speech since losing the US election in November said President Donald Trump was "counting on the notion that fear can be contagious." In the absence of the security alliance, Mr Biden argued, there would be no counterforce to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Do you think Putin would have stopped at Ukraine? Do you think Putin would have stopped?" he questioned. "I just don't understand how they (the present US government) fail to understand that there's strength in alliances. There's benefits. The cost there, it saves us money overall." Mr Biden's interview coincides with commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, known as VE Day, in Europe this week. He expressed concern about waning confidence in the "certainty of America" to deal with the world's challenges, saying the US's allies would soon "begin to doubt whether we're going to stay where we've always been in the last 80 years". "European leaders and European countries, they're wondering, 'well, what do I do now? What's the best route for me to take? Can I rely on the United States? Are they going to be there?'" 'Appeasing' Russia On Mr Trump's handling of Ukraine peace talks and his efforts to make Kyiv cede territory to Russia, Mr Biden said it amounted to "modern day appeasement". "(Vladimir) Putin can't stand the fact that the Russian dictatorship that he runs, that the Soviet Union, has collapsed. And anybody (who) thinks he's going to stop is just foolish," he said. "I just don't understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he's going to take significant portions of land that aren't his, that that's going to satisfy him." Donald Trump has appeared to favour some of the Russian president's views on the Ukraine war. ( Reuters: Maxim Shemetov/Illustration/File Photo ) As part of ceasefire negotiations, Moscow has repeatedly made demands for Kyiv to give up its claim to the Ukrainian territories Russia controls and officially recognise them as Russian. Crimea, the peninsula that Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been a major sticking point, with the Ukraine has refused to recognise its occupied territories as Russian. Since Mr Trump and Mr Putin's phone call on February 12, Photo shows Two men sitting on chairs in a church Donald Trump has made big promises on Russia's war in Ukraine but he's becoming an impatient broker. Asked if his own government's support for Ukraine's war effort had fallen short, Mr Biden said: "We gave them everything they needed to provide for their independence and we were prepared to respond, more aggressively, if Putin moved again." Mr Biden also rebuked the televised "I found it beneath America, the way that took place," he said, while also taking aim at Mr Trump's desires to annex Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal. " What the hell is going on here? What president ever talks like that? That's not who we are. We're about freedom, democracy, opportunity. Not about confiscation. " Mr Biden's interview comes just over
