Markets shrug off Trump tariff threat against EU
11:25
From the show
Major stock markets on Monday largely shrugged off US President Donald Trump's latest tariffs threat to hit the EU and Mexico with 30 percent levies. Analysts said investors viewed the warning as yet another negotiating ploy against America's trading partners rather than a genuine move -- although lingering uncertainty weighed on oil prices. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks to Gavin Bade, Trade and Economic Policy Reporter at the Wall Street Journal.
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France 24
22 minutes ago
- France 24
US consumer inflation accelerates as tariff scrutiny grows
Observers are expecting to learn more about the effects of Trump's duties over the summer months, meaning June's data marks the start in a series of closely-watched figures -- particularly as officials mull changes to interest rates as well. The consumer price index (CPI) was up 2.7 percent from a year ago in June, rising from the 2.4 percent figure in May as energy costs rose, said the Department of Labor. Other areas that saw cost increases included household furnishings and apparel, both segments that experts are eyeing for signs of cost hikes after Trump's sweeping tariffs this year. While Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on almost all trading partners in April and separately slapped steeper duties on imports of steel, aluminum and autos, US officials have pushed back against warnings that these could spark price increases. Economists caution that tariff hikes could fuel inflation and weigh on economic growth, but US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has labeled such expectations "tariff derangement syndrome." CPI rose 0.3 percent in June from the previous month, an uptick from the 0.1 percent increase in May as well. Excluding the volatile food and energy segments, CPI climbed 0.2 percent on-month, picking up from May too. Compared with a year ago, "core" CPI was up 2.9 percent in June. Even if headline inflation figures show no "meaningful" surge because of tariffs alone, Nationwide economist Oren Klachkin warned it may be too soon to see their full impact just yet. Businesses have been trying to hold off consumer price hikes through a range of actions, from eating into their own margins to trying to share costs with their suppliers, he said. But it remains to be seen how long they can do this. There could be a bigger impact over the summer, Klachkin added. For now, he is looking "under the surface" at components most exposed to Trump's tariffs, such as furnishings, recreational goods and cellphones, to discern their effects. Besides steep tariffs that have already taken effect, Trump has also threatened even higher levels on dozens of key trading partners including the European Union, India, Japan and South Korea if they do not strike deals to avert these elevated levels. He has also opened doors to further levies on sector-specific imports ranging from semiconductors to pharmaceuticals, injecting more uncertainty in the global economy and worries of supply chain snags.
Euronews
22 minutes ago
- Euronews
Exclusive: No intention to control Gaza long term, Israeli FM says
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on Monday that his country doesn't have "any intention" of controlling the Gaza Strip long term. "We don't have any intention to do so," Sa'ar said in an exclusive interview with Euronews. "With regard to the Gaza Strip, we have only security concerns." Sa'ar's comments seem to contradict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who in May said Israel would take control of all of Gaza after the war ends. "We [will] implement (President) Trump's plan, it is a good plan and makes a difference and it means something very simple, that the residents of Gaza who want to leave can leave," Netanyahu said, referring to a proposal floated by Trump of resettling all of Gaza's population in other countries. But Sa'ar added that the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which currently controls the enclave, "cannot be part of the future of Gaza." "If Hamas is ready to lay down its arms, if they are ready to demilitarise the Gaza Strip, we can do it in a political path." Sa'ar also slammed as "ridiculous" criticism from some Western countries that Israel's military operation in Gaza has been disproportionate. "What would you say about the Western attack against ISIS that destroyed ISIS? Was it proportionate?," he asked, referring to the so-called Islamic state that once ruled large parts of Syria and Iraq. Talking about the 7 October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel that prompted the retaliatory military operation in Gaza, he said: "Israel should agree to the existence of this terrorist state, one mile from its communities, what its proportions are in this case? These terrorist states should be eliminated as a state." Around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack and 250 others taken as hostages back to Gaza, of which 20 are believed to still be alive. The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent Israeli military operation. A US-sponsored 60-day ceasefire deal for Gaza which would see Hamas free the remaining hostages has so far failed to materialise. Israel has indicated it would be willing to end all hostilities if Hamas surrendered its weapons and renounced governing Gaza. Sa'ar is in Brussels to participate in the EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meeting, a gathering aimed at deepening EU cooperation with Israel as well as nine other southern partners, including Palestine, Syria and Libya. It is the first time that Israel and Palestine will be represented at a high level in Brussels since the war in Gaza started. Both sides have indicated there is no plan to meet. Direct negotiations between the Palestinian Authority, the government of the West Bank, and Israel have been at a standstill for more than a decade with many observers questioning the feasibility of a two-state solution. Sa'ar's visit also coincides with a meeting of the 27 EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, which is aimed at discussing an exhaustive list of 10 possibilities for the EU to respond to Israel's breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement over its failure to respect Palestinian human rights. It also takes place a few days after a recent agreement brokered by the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to improve the flow of aid to Gaza. Sa'ar defended the agreement with Kallas, saying there had already been fuel entering humanitarian facilities like hospitals or water installation in Gaza. "But the only restriction or the only problem we have here is that Hamas cannot take advantage of the aid as they did during the last 21 months," he said. In its last humanitarian update on 9 July, the UN estimated that one third of Gazans are going entire days without eating and more people are at risk of starvation. Health services face an imminent shutdown due to a lack of fuel. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of confiscating aid destined for civilians. The minister also called the EU's list of options in retaliation for Israel's breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement "extremely distorted." Those options include suspending visa free travel and blocking imports from Jewish settlements, according to a document issued by Kallas' office seen by Euronews. "Even though we thought this process is not fair, it is extremely distorted, we gave answers and we brought facts," Sa'ar said. "I hope that also tomorrow, those member states that think it's not in the interest of the EU to go against Israel will prevail."
France 24
43 minutes ago
- France 24
UN demands justice in any Ukraine peace talks, as civilian deaths spike
The call from UN rights chief Volker Turk came the day after US President Donald Trump told Moscow to end the war within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions. Trump also laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO. In recent weeks, Trump has shown increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Moscow stepping up attacks rather than stopping them. "An immediate ceasefire is needed now to end this unbearable suffering," Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for Turk's office, told a media briefing. "Work on a lasting peace, in line with international law, must intensify -- a peace that ensures accountability for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law." Rather than being sidelined or overlooked, "any move towards ceasefire, towards peace -- accountability must be at its heart", she added. Surging civilian casualties Throssell said Turk wanted any negotiations to focus in the immediate term on ending attacks that affect civilians and protecting the rights of people in occupied territory. They should also seek to return forcibly transferred or deported children, establish humanitarian corridors across the line of control and an bring end to the torture and ill treatment of prisoners of war and other detainees, she said. Russia launched the full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Moscow has unleashed record waves of drone and missile attacks over the past few weeks, with the number of Ukrainian civilians killed or wounded in June hitting a three-year high, according to UN figures, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured. "July has brought no respite for civilians in Ukraine," said Throssell. So far this month at least 139 civilians have reportedly been killed and 791 wounded, she said, citing the "intense and successive waves of missile and drone strikes" launched by Russian forces. "Intense and sustained attacks using explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas are likely to have indiscriminate impacts and as such raise serious concerns as to their compliance with international humanitarian law," said Throssell. The UN human rights office has so far been able to verify and document at least 13,580 civilians killed and 34,115 wounded since the Russian invasion began but acknowledges that the full figures will be far higher. Attacks on healthcare Meanwhile Jarno Habicht, the World Health Organization's representative in Ukraine, said civilian casualties "almost doubled" in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the first. He said the WHO had recorded 2,504 attacks on healthcare since the start of the war, involving 212 deaths and 768 injuries. The WHO records attacks but does not attribute blame as it is not a criminal investigations body. "That means that healthcare is not a safe place for the patients and healthcare workers -- and it's a violation of humanitarian law," said Habicht. He also sounded an alarm on "problem" behaviours growing during the war -- heavy drinking among adults, and new tobacco products used by youths.
