Latest news with #free trade
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US-EU trade deal ‘moment of relief but not of celebration': Belgian PM
Belgium's prime minister said Sunday that the trade deal announced between the United States and the European Union is a 'moment of relief' but not worthy of celebration. In a post on the social platform X, Bart De Wever said he hopes President Trump will one day come to 'embrace the value of free trade.' 'As we await full details of the new EU–US trade agreement, one thing is clear: this is a moment of relief but not of celebration. Tariffs will increase in several areas and some key questions remain unresolved,' De Wever said. 'I sincerely hope the United States will, in due course, turn away again from the delusion of protectionism and once again embrace the value of free trade – a cornerstone of shared prosperity,' he added. Trump and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the trade deal Sunday, setting tariffs at 15 percent for European goods, including automobiles. The European Union will purchase $750 billion worth of energy from the U.S. as part of the deal, Trump announced, and agreed to invest in the U.S. $600 billion more than the current investments for other goods. Trump had threatened to impose a 30-percent tariff on goods from the EU, which would have begun Aug. 1, and the deal announced Sunday avoids a trade war with the U.S.'s largest trading partner. Still, the tariffs are higher than some European allies would have liked. De Wever praised von der Leyen for her work negotiating the trade deal. 'Still, I commend President @vonderleyen and her team for their hard work and dedication over recent months, focused on preserving transatlantic ties and ensuring trade remains as stable as possible under challenging circumstances,' he wrote. He called on the EU to continue developing its other global partnerships. 'In the meantime, Europe must continue to deepen its internal market, cut unnecessary regulation, and forge new partnerships to diversify our global trade network,' he wrote. 'May Europe become the beacon of open, fair, and reliable trade the world so urgently needs.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Australia should compromise to reach EU trade deal, says minister
Australia and the EU are expected to conclude the second phase of a trade pact by the end of the year. (EPA Images pic) CANBERRA : Australia should accept compromises to reach a trade deal with the EU and demonstrate that such agreements can still be reached in a more protectionist world, trade minister Don Farrell said today. Farrell said in a speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney that free trade was under threat and that Australia should work with other countries to defend it. In a question and answer session after the speech, Farrell said Australia-EU trade negotiations that restarted this year would be successful and it was in both sides' national interest to make it so. 'It will require some compromises in our negotiations, but I think the imperative here is to show the rest of the world we're fair dinkum about free and open trade and we can do agreements with other countries,' he said, using an Australian phrase meaning honest, genuine or sincere. Asked if he meant that Australian industry would have to step up in the national interest, he said: 'I'm saying exactly that'. A previous attempt to reach a trade deal failed in 2023, with Canberra wanting more ability to sell farm goods in Europe. The EU is seeking greater access to Australian critical minerals and lower tariffs on manufactured goods. Farrell also said a trade agreement with India should be reached 'in the very near future'. The two countries are aiming to conclude the second phase of a trade pact by the end of the year. Australia is also seeking to negotiate with the US to reverse tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump and prevent new ones from being imposed. Yesterday, Canberra loosened biosecurity rules to allow greater access to US beef, though it said this was the result of a long-running scientific assessment rather than a part of trade talks.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
European firms call for return to free and fair trade at China-EU summit
European companies called for a return to the spirit of free and fair trade at Thursday's highly anticipated China-European Union summit in Beijing , urging leaders to settle their policy differences and promote a level playing field for businesses in both markets. They expected the European side to press China on issues including reducing the bilateral trade imbalance, lowering market access and regulatory barriers, and ensuring equal treatment for foreign companies operating in the country. 'I think that one of the main expectations shared by many industries would be to preserve free trade … anything that becomes an obstacle to this free trade is, in our view, a problem,' an EU industry source told the Post on Wednesday. 'The core of today's debate between the European Union and China is how to maintain this idea of free trade, while recognising that certain sectors may be more competitive on one side than the other. The goal is to ensure that, when free trade happens, it takes place on fair and equitable terms,' the source said. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) said it expected both sides to identify areas where 'cooperation is still possible and necessary', highlighting in particular the need to step up cooperation on the green transition and climate change, in a statement published on Tuesday. Environmental regulations – specifically the gap between European and Chinese environmental laws – are one of the two main concerns for the EU industry source, the other being the subsidies enjoyed by China's state-owned enterprises. The key question is how Europe can keep pushing ahead as a global leader in building cleaner, more sustainable industries without undermining its own competitiveness, the source said.
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
EU and Japan agree to work together to promote free trade and economic security
Leaders of the European Union and Japan launched an alliance Wednesday aimed at boosting economic cooperation, defending free trade, and countering unfair trade practices as the two sides face growing challenges from the US and China. The agreement followed a meeting among European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. It comes just as Tokyo and Washington reached a new trade deal, which places 15 percent tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods imported into the US, down from an initial 25 percent. The leaders agreed to launch a competitiveness alliance aimed at stepping up trade, economic security, and cooperation in innovation, energy, and other areas, according to a joint statement released by the EU. The leaders also supported a stable and predictable, rules-based, free, and fair economic order and reaffirmed the importance of Japan-EU cooperation to uphold a multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, as well as with other multilateral cooperation efforts. The EU and Japan also agreed to strengthen defense industry cooperation and to start talks on an information security agreement. Japan and the EU have been stepping up their security and defense cooperation amid growing global tensions and conflicts, including Russia's war on Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East, and increasingly assertive China's military activity in Asia, recognizing that challenges in Europe and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
EU and Japan agree to work together to promote free trade and economic security
TOKYO (AP) — Leaders of the European Union and Japan launched an alliance Wednesday aimed at boosting economic cooperation, defending free trade and countering unfair trade practices as the two sides face growing challenges from the United States and China. The agreement followed a meeting among European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. It comes just as Tokyo and Washington reached a new trade deal, which places 15% tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods imported into the U.S., down from an initial 25%. The leaders agreed to launch 'competitiveness alliance" aimed at stepping up trade, economic security and cooperation in innovation, energy and other areas, according to a joint statement released by the EU. The leaders also supported 'a stable and predictable rules-based free and fair economic order,' and reaffirmed the importance of Japan-EU cooperation to uphold multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, as well as with other multilateral cooperation efforts. The EU and Japan also agreed to strengthen defense industry cooperation and to start talks on an information security agreement. Japan and the EU have been stepping up their security and defense cooperation amid growing global tensions and conflicts, including Russia's war on Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East and increasingly assertive China's military activity in Asia, recognizing that challenges in Europe and Indo-Pacific are inseparable. Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press 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
