BRICS summit opens in Brazil without Xi Jinping and Putin
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Asian markets drop as Trump's tariff deadline looms
While the White House has said several deals were in the pipeline, only two have been finalised ahead of the July 9 cut-off set by the US president. Governments from major trading partners including Japan, India, the European Union and South Korea have fought for the past three months to get agreements. But Trump said he will send his first tariff letters at 1600 GMT Monday, setting out what Washington will charge for doing business with the United States. He said an extra 10 percent would be added to any country "aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS", an 11-member alliance including Brazil, Russia, India and China. The announcement came after leaders of the group warned Trump's "indiscriminate" import tariffs risked hurting the global economy. The deadline for a deal is Wednesday, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Sunday that the measures would not be applied until August 1. "It's not a new deadline. We are saying, this is when it's happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice," Bessent told CNN. He said the rates will then "boomerang back" to the sometimes very high levels Trump announced on April 2, before the president suspended the levies to allow for trade talks. "I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days," Bessent said. The president told reporters Sunday on Air Force One that "I think we'll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal", adding that some deals have already been made. Tariff uncertainty weighed on equity markets, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington and Taipei all down, though there were small gains in Singapore, Seoul, Manila and Jakarta. Wall Street was closed Friday for a holiday. "Whether deadlines get extended remains uncertain given Trump's unpredictable style," said IG market analyst Fabien Yip. "Our base case expects several important trade partners to agree on a high-level basis before the deadline. "This would provide more time for detailed discussions over the following two months. The other risk factor is sector-specific tariffs covering semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and materials may also be announced in due course." Oil prices sank after Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers in the OPEC+ alliance said they would boost output far more than expected in August, fuelling demand worries just as Trump's tariffs are about to begin. The group said "a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" led to the decision to further hike output. Key figures at around 0230 GMT Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 39,628.41 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 23,842.39 Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,467.81 West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $65.81 per barrel Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.51 yen from 144.53 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.34 pence from 86.37 pence New York: Closed for a public holiday © 2025 AFP
Euronews
4 hours ago
- Euronews
Trump talks of new August tariff date and looks for more trade deals
The Trump administration is stepping up pressure on trading partners to quickly make new deals before a Wednesday deadline, when the president's 90-day so-called 'reciprocal' tariff deadline is set to expire. The United States plans to start sending letters on Monday warning countries that higher tariffs could kick in on 1 August. That furthers the uncertainty for businesses, consumers and America's trading partners, and questions remain about which countries will be notified, whether anything will change in the days ahead and whether President Donald Trump will once more push off imposing the rates. Trump and his top trade advisers say he could extend the time for dealmaking but they insist the administration is applying maximum pressure on other nations. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told CBS' 'Face the Nation' on Sunday that Trump would decide when it was time to give up on negotiations. 'The United States is always willing to talk to everybody about everything,' Hassett said. 'There are deadlines, and there are things that are close, so maybe things will push back past the deadline or maybe they won't. In the end the president is going to make that judgment.' Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, likewise said countries negotiating in good faith and making concessions could 'sort of, get the date rolled'. The tariffs on the table The steeper tariffs that Trump announced on 2 April threatened to overhaul the global economy and lead to broader trade wars. A week later, after the financial markets had panicked, the US administration suspended most of the higher taxes on imports for 90 days just as they were about to take effect. The negotiating window until 9 July has led to announced deals only with the United Kingdom and Vietnam. Trump imposed elevated tariff rates on dozens of nations that run meaningful trade surpluses with the US, and a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries in response to what he called an economic emergency. Many economists nonetheless fear that Trump's tariffs have the potential to raise inflation, stalling interest rate cuts and therefore hindering growth. There are separate 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum and a 25% tariff on autos. Since April, few foreign governments have set new trade terms with Washington as the Republican president demanded. Trump told reporters on Friday that his administration might be sending out letters as early as Saturday to countries spelling out their tariff rates if they did not reach a deal, but noted that the US would not start collecting those taxes until 1 August. On Sunday, he said he would send out letters from Monday to foreign governments, reflecting planned tariffs for each. 'Could be 12, could be 15,' he added. 'We've made deals also,' Trump told reporters before heading back to the White House from his home in New Jersey. 'So we'll get to have a combination of letters, and some deals have been made.' He and his advisers have declined to say which countries would receive the letters. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rejected the idea that 1 August was a new deadline and declined to say what might happen on Wednesday. 'We'll see," Bessent said on CNN's State of the Union. "I'm not going to give away the playbook.' He said the US was 'close to several deals', and predicted several big announcements over the next few days. He gave no details. "I think we're going to see a lot of deals very quickly,' Bessent said. Targeting BRICS nations Later Sunday, Trump vowed to impose more tariffs against the BRICS bloc of developing nations, which had condemned tariffs increases at its summit in Brazil. Trump said in a post on his social media platform that any country aligning itself with what he termed 'the Anti-American policies of BRICS' would be levied an added 10% tariff. Trump has announced a deal with Vietnam that would allow US goods to enter the country duty-free, while Vietnamese exports to the US would face a 20% levy. That was a decline from the 46% tax on Vietnamese imports he proposed in April — one of his so-called reciprocal tariffs targeting dozens of countries with which the US runs a trade deficit. There are a number of factors behind the trade deficits the US is running but the strength of the dollar, which makes imports cheaper for Americans, is notably driving up demand for cheap, foreign goods. Asked if he expected to reach deals with the European Union or India, Trump said on Friday that 'letters are better for us' because there are so many countries involved. 'We have India coming up and with Vietnam, we did it, but much easier to send a letter saying, 'Listen, we know we have a certain deficit, or in some cases a surplus, but not too many. And this is what you're going to have to pay if you want to do business in the United States.' Canada, however, will not be one of the countries receiving letters, Trump's ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, said on Friday after trade talks between the two countries recently resumed. 'Canada is one of our biggest trading partners,' Hoekstra told CTV News in an interview in Ottawa. 'We're going to have a deal that's articulated." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants a new deal in place by 21 July or Canada will increase trade countermeasures. Hoekstra would not commit to a date for a trade agreement and said that even with a deal, Canada could still face some tariffs. But 'we're not going to send Canada just a letter,' he said.
LeMonde
6 hours ago
- LeMonde
BRICS struggle to find common ground despite shared ambition to challenge the West
Has the moment arrived for the Global South to push back against Donald Trump? That is the hope in some countries at the 17 th BRICS summit is to be held on Sunday, July 6, and Monday, July 7, in Rio de Janeiro. The event is highly anticipated, given the hike in US tariffs, as well as the war in Ukraine and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Since 2023, the so-called "bloc" has been steadily expanding. It now brings together 11 countries representing about half of the world's population and 30% of global GDP. Historic members – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – are now joined by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Indonesia. Also present in Rio will be 10 "associated" states: Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Cuba, Uganda, Malaysia, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan. Meticulously prepared by the Brazilians, the summit will nevertheless take place without two major figures: Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. The Russian president, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, will participate via video link. "The Brazilian government was unable to adopt a clear position that would allow our president to attend this meeting," lamented Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin diplomatic adviser, who specified that Putin would be replaced by his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
