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BBC News
16 minutes ago
- BBC News
Trump says US may not reach trade deal with Canada
US President Donald Trump has said he does not expect to reach a trade deal with Canada, after he gave the country a deadline of 1 August to carve out an agreement."We haven't really had a lot of luck with Canada," Trump told reporters ahead of his trip to Scotland on Friday. "I think Canada could be one where there's just a tariff, not really a negotiation."His remarks come after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney signalled earlier this week that Canada "will not accept a bad deal" and rush into an is among several countries given an August deadline by Trump as part of his global tariff strategy and push to renegotiate deals with US trade partners. Trump has said that US importers buying in goods from Canada will face a 35% tax if no deal is reached before the 1 August deadline. But that levy will not apply to goods compliant under an existing North American free trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico. Trump has already imposed a blanket 25% tariff on imports of certain Canadian goods, as well as a 50% tariff on aluminium and steel imports and a 25% tariff on all cars and trucks not built in the US president has argued that these will boost American manufacturing and protect jobs. The move has disrupted the global economy, and prompted warnings from critics that products could become more expensive for US sells three-quarters of its products to the US and its auto industry is deeply intertwined with its southern neighbour - making the impact of tariffs even more two countries have been engaged in intense trade and security negotiations since Prime Minister Carney took office in May. But Canadian officials have recently downplayed the possibility of reaching a deal a two-day visit to Washington, intergovernmental affairs minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters on Thursday that negotiators "have a lot of work" in front of them. He described the ongoing talks as "productive" and "cordial", but reiterated that Canada will take "the time necessary to get the best deal".Trump has announced trade agreements with other countries in recent days, including Japan, which he said will face a lower tariff rate of 15% in exchange for a $550bn (£409bn) investment in the US.


Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump: Macron's words on Palestinian state do not matter
'doesn't matter,' President Donald Trump said after the French president announced he would recognise the war-torn territory as a state. The US president hit out at Mr Macron saying that although he was a 'good guy… it's not going to change anything'. The French president pledged to formally acknowledge Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September, prompting fury from Israel and allies including the US. 'What he says doesn't matter,' Mr Trump told reporters at the White House, ahead of boarding a flight to the UK to visit his golf courses. 'He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight.' The president continued: 'Look, he's a different kind of a guy. He's okay. He's a team player, pretty much. But here's the good news: What he says doesn't matter. It's not going to change anything.' Mr Macron had argued his move to recognise Palestinian statehood was the only path to ending the war in Gaza and bringing security to the Middle East. However, Charlie Kushner, the recently-confirmed US ambassador to France, called the move a 'gift to Hamas and a blow to peace'. Mr Kushner, whose son, Jared, is Mr Trump's son-in-law, continued: 'I'm deeply disappointed. [Mr Macron] – I hope to change your mind before September. 'Free the hostages,' he said, referring to the individuals taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct 7 massacre in Israel. 'Focus on a ceasefire. This is the path to lasting peace.' Mr Macron was slated by hard-Right Dutch MP Geert Wilders. Sharing a map of France with the tip on the south east shaded in red, he said: Here will be the new Palestinian State. Big parts of France are already islamic anyway. Good luck @EmmanuelMacron and France! Happy suicide! The Netherlands will close its borders immediately. — Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) July 25, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has come under pressure from the Scottish Labour leader to immediately recognise Palestine as a state. Anas Sarwar made the demand shortly before the Prime Minister held emergency talks with his French and German counterparts about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. He also claimed Mr Netanyahu had broken international law and accused him of having 'no interest' in a peaceful resolution to his country's war with Hamas. Cabinet ministers and dozens of backbench Labour MPs also piled pressure on the Government to recognise the state of Palestine straight away. Sir Keir's current position is that although the Palestinian people have an 'inalienable right' to their own state, this should only come as part of a wider peace process after a ceasefire in the region. In a social media video on Friday afternoon, Mr Sarwar said: 'I have long supported the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine and continue to do so. 'But whilst pressing for that, we must see the end of the war right now. What we're seeing on our screens and in our social media feeds is intolerable, unjustifiable and heartbreaking. The mass starvation of a population, the innocent killing of innocent civilians and the destruction of infrastructure. 'That's why we need an immediate ceasefire, we need the free flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, we need to see the end of illegal occupation and the pathway to a two-state solution.' He went on to call for the release of the 50 remaining Israeli hostages who are still being held in captivity by Hamas. Going further in his criticisms of Mr Netanyahu than Sir Keir, Mr Sarwar added: 'Tragically, so many of us feel powerless when we look at the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu and his Israeli government. 'It's clear to me that Benjamin Netanyahu is in breach of international humanitarian law, that he has no interest in peace and he cares more about staying in power and out of jail than doing the right things by his citizens.' Mr Sarwar's video was published just before Sir Keir held crisis talks with Mr Macron and Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor. In a statement on the eve of the talks, Sir Keir condemned the 'unspeakable and indefensible' suffering of Palestinians and called it a 'humanitarian catastrophe' amid warnings by the UN of famine and mass starvation. 'Humanitarian aid must be the priority' Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, said on Friday that he 'desperately' wanted to see Palestine recognised as a state amid growing pressure from Sir Keir's own front bench for him to do so. The Telegraph understands that Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, is among Cabinet ministers who want the Prime Minister to pivot to a policy of immediate recognition. According to the Guardian, Mr Streeting's view is shared by Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland Secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary. Speaking on Thursday night, Ms Mahmood said that while British recognition of Palestine would have 'multiple benefits' and send a 'strong message' to Israel, the immediate priority must be delivering aid to Gaza. Bloomberg later reported that Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, also wants to see Palestine recognised straight away. The Government last month sanctioned two Israeli ministers over their comments about the war in Gaza in a significant break with Mrtw Trump and the US. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the hard-Right Israeli security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the ultra-nationalist finance minister, had their assets frozen and have been banned from entering the UK.


The Guardian
16 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Von der Leyen to meet Trump in Scotland with EU-US deal apparently imminent
The EU appears to be on the verge of signing a trade deal with Donald Trump after the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced she would meet the US president on Sunday during his four-day trip to Scotland. Trump was scheduled to land on Friday evening ahead of the opening of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire and was already scheduled to meet the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, on Monday. The European Commission said von der Leyen's visit was at Trump's invitation. Ireland's taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said on Friday a deal would 'hopefully be signed off before the weekend is over'. Before boarding an Air Force One flight to Glasgow, the US president had said the EU only had a '50/50' chance of a deal but later said his teams were working 'diligently' to land the 'big one' with the bloc, potentially signalling an end to the threat of a trade war. At the same time Trump heaped praise on Starmer and Scotland's first minister, John Swinney, and said the French president, Emmanuel Macron, was 'a team player' but that France's recognition of Palestine as a state would not 'carry any weight'. Trump said he was looking forward to meeting Swinney. Before boarding the presidential plane , he told journalists: 'The Scottish leader is a good man, so I look forward to meeting him.' He said he had a 'lot of love' for Scotland. Trump also hinted he was looking for more concessions from the EU, saying that Japan had had a worse chance than Brussels of getting a deal but succeeded after offering more to the US. Von der Leyen said she 'had a good call' with Trump before he landed in Scotland and they had 'agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong'. While signalling he was not yet ready to sign a deal with Brussels, Trump would not be meeting von der Leyen unless a deal was to be signed, sources have said. Trump also hinted he was ready to widen the deal he had already agreed with the UK, fuelling speculation he could finally eliminate the 25% tariff he imposed on steel. 'This week we want to talk about certain aspects [of the trade deal] which are going to be good for both countries; more fine tuning. We are also going to be doing a little celebrating together because you know we get along very well,' he said. 'We are going to have a good time I think. The prime minister and I get along very well; the Scottish leader too, we have a lot of things, my mother was born in Scotland, and he's a good man … so I'm looking forward to meeting him.' Asked about a trade deal with the EU, he said: 'I would say that we have a 50/50 chance, maybe less than that … I would have said we had a 25% chance with Japan, and they kept coming back, and we made a deal.' The EU is resigned to an agreement in principle on 15% baseline tariffs including on cars, which will make brands from Volvo to Volkswagen more costly to export than Range Rovers from Britain, which carved out a deal allowing 100,000 cars a year to be exported at a 10% tariff. On Friday, Volkswagen laid bare the cost of Trump's import tariffs saying it had taken a £1bn hit in the first half of the year as a direct result. Trump struck a deal with Starmer in May reducing tariffs on cars from 27.5% to 10% in exchange for increases in US imports of beef and ethanol. While it is now being seen as a clever move by Starmer, the ethanol industry says it is fighting for survival after the prime minister opened the sluice gates to US ethanol, which is used in E10 biofuel in filling stations around the UK. The president of the National Farmers' Union, Tom Bradshaw, told the Guardian his 'biggest worry' was that Starmer would sell farmers out by allowing US dairy products in. 'We understand the US is pushing very very hard for dairy access and for us that is a real red line as they use hormones that we stopped using in dairy production 30 years ago.' He said the farming sector could not 'give any more' and warned Starmer not to use agriculture as a sacrificial lamb. Before boarding Air Force One, Trump claimed he would have sealed deals with nearly all of the 60 countries he threatened with punitive tariffs by next Friday, his self-imposed deadline for agreements. 'Most of the deals are finished … I don't want to hurt countries but we're going to send a letter out sometime during the week and it's basically going to say you're going to pay 10%, you're going to pay 50%, you're going to pay maybe less, I don't know,' he said. He said he had not 'really had a lot of luck with Canada' but he was not focused on it, and rather was 'working very diligently with Europe, the EU' to get a deal.