
Auto Part Of U.S./EU Tariff Deal Gets Mixed Reception
The German auto industry association said agreement between the U.S. and the European Union on a new tariff regime avoided a trade war but will be a financial burden on its carmakers.
The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) said in a statement it was a positive that the agreement averted a transatlantic trade war.
But the VDA also said the U.S. tariff of 15% on automotive products will cost German automotive companies billions annually.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes stock prices fell more than 1% Monday after news the U.S. and the EU agreed new tariffs on auto imports. Rather than a negative opinion on the deal, the stock price falls reflected their strong reaction last week on expectations a deal would be agreed.
The new tariffs are a substantial improvement on the recent increase to 27.5% charged on European auto imports into the U.S. but still four times the previous charge of 2.5%.
Last week, the STOXX Europe 600 Automobiles & Parts Index, which tracks European automakers and suppliers, jumped 3.4% on news Japan had agreed a 15% tariff on its auto exports to the U.S. That rally was led by Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes. On Monday, the index slid 0.2%. Experts had predicted the Japan deal was likely to be the same as that offered to Europe.
A Reuters Breakingviews column on the agreement was headlined 'EU's lopsided Trump trade deal will be short-lived'.
The column, by Pierre Briancon, said the deal would have at least removed some uncertainty.
'Nevertheless, the tariff level still amounts to capitulation by Brussels. It must be compared not to Trump's threats, but to the 1.47% rate previously applied to European goods crossing the Atlantic. Only two months ago, several EU governments were warning that a 10% across-the-board charge, similar to what the UK had obtained, would be a red line that should trigger some form of response,' Briancon said.
'In addition to the added trade friction, the EU has also promised to import more energy – spending $250 billion a year on American oil and gas – and could invest some $600 billion stateside. That, at least, is Trump's interpretation of the deal. It's unclear whether these figures represent incremental amounts, or what time frame the president had in mind. Fuzzy as they are, these EU pledges at least do not look very binding,' according to Briancon.
Not many details
The deal, announced by President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland, didn't reveal many details.
German automakers had been hoping for additional concessions to increase their production in the U.S. and incentivize investment. Exports from the U.S. of German production would also earn concessions. Volkswagen has talked about adding Audi output in the U.S.
BMW is the biggest German auto exporter from the U.S., shipping nearly 225,000 vehicles with a value exceeding $10 billion in 2024. Mercedes is another significant exporter. Volkswagen has a U.S. factory but doesn't export much. Another idea would mean for every German export from the U.S., one import would be allowed free of duty, or at a reduced rate.
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Roblox also aims to diversify its revenue beyond gaming by turning the platform into a hub for socializing, commerce, and advertising. The platform saw a boost in engagement during the quarter, with engaged hours up 58% to 27.4 billion. Read more here. What's in the US-EU trade deal depends on who is doing the talking President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shook hands Sunday over a trade agreement. The White House did a victory lap, but days later, there are still plenty of disagreements about exactly what is in the pact. Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul reports: Read more here. President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shook hands Sunday over a trade agreement. The White House did a victory lap, but days later, there are still plenty of disagreements about exactly what is in the pact. Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul reports: Read more here. 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Fed calendar quirk raises the stakes for its Sept. meeting Meta stock surges after earnings beat, guidance surprise Microsoft on track for $4 trillion market cap after earnings beat Arm stock falls as chip ambitions shake investor confidence Economic data: Challenger jobs cuts (July); Personal income & spending (June); Core PCE price index; Employment cost index (second quarter); Initial jobless claims (week ending July 26) Earnings: Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), Cigna (CI), Coinbase (COIN), CVS Health (CVS), Mastercard (MA), Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH), Reddit (RDDT), Roblox (RBLX), Roku (ROKU), Strategy (MSTR) Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning: Trump knocks Canada as countries rush to strike trade deals Trump tariffs face another legal test on eve of deadline Apple faces 2 major threats ahead of earnings What's in the US-EU trade deal? It depends on who's talking. Fed calendar quirk raises the stakes for its Sept. meeting Meta stock surges after earnings beat, guidance surprise Microsoft on track for $4 trillion market cap after earnings beat Arm stock falls as chip ambitions shake investor confidence Trending tickers: ARM, CVS and Confluent Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading: Arm (ARM) stock fell 6% on Thursday before the bell following the announcement of the chip tech provider's plan to invest in its own chip development, which would bite into future profits, disappointed investors. CVS (CVS) stock jumped 7% in premarket on Thursday after the company beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit. Confluent Inc (CFLT) stock rose over 20% premarket following the company's positive earnings report. The data streaming platform reported a 21% growth in subscription revenue and a 28% growth in Confluent Cloud revenue for Q2 2025. Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading: Arm (ARM) stock fell 6% on Thursday before the bell following the announcement of the chip tech provider's plan to invest in its own chip development, which would bite into future profits, disappointed investors. CVS (CVS) stock jumped 7% in premarket on Thursday after the company beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit. Confluent Inc (CFLT) stock rose over 20% premarket following the company's positive earnings report. The data streaming platform reported a 21% growth in subscription revenue and a 28% growth in Confluent Cloud revenue for Q2 2025. Carvana posts higher quarterly profit on record car sales Shares in Carvana (CVNA) surged over 15% in premarket trading after the online used-car seller defied expectations with strong second quarter results and outlook. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Shares in Carvana (CVNA) surged over 15% in premarket trading after the online used-car seller defied expectations with strong second quarter results and outlook. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. EBay stock rises as resilient consumers fuel strong sales forecast EBay (EBAY) stock jumped on Thursday before the bell after the e-commerce company forecasted sales that topped analysts' estimates, suggesting optimism for continued consumer resilience at a time of shifting US tariff proposals. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. EBay (EBAY) stock jumped on Thursday before the bell after the e-commerce company forecasted sales that topped analysts' estimates, suggesting optimism for continued consumer resilience at a time of shifting US tariff proposals. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. AB InBev shares slide on concern over sales volumes Beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) stock slumped more than 9% before the bell on Thursday after reporting that its second quarter sales volumes fell more than expected due to weak demand in Brazil and China, adding to investor worries over industry growth and hitting its shares. Reuters reports: Read more here. Beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) stock slumped more than 9% before the bell on Thursday after reporting that its second quarter sales volumes fell more than expected due to weak demand in Brazil and China, adding to investor worries over industry growth and hitting its shares. Reuters reports: Read more here. Qualcomm on the move lower Qualcomm's (QCOM) not playing in the big-cap tech stock euphoria this morning led by Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) post earnings. Its shares are down 6% premarket. The company's earnings late Wednesday were fine. But the Street is calling out a few things that are giving the bears the win, for now. This note from HSBC's Ryan Mellor this morning captures it all nicely: Qualcomm's (QCOM) not playing in the big-cap tech stock euphoria this morning led by Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) post earnings. Its shares are down 6% premarket. The company's earnings late Wednesday were fine. But the Street is calling out a few things that are giving the bears the win, for now. This note from HSBC's Ryan Mellor this morning captures it all nicely: This is remarkable on Meta Meta's (META) stock is rocking higher in premarket, to the tune of 12% after a monster quarter. Got to love the market ignoring the capex stuff in its earnings release below, and focusing in on Meta's revenue trends (strong). "We currently expect 2025 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $66-72 billion, narrowed from our prior outlook of $64-72 billion and up approximately $30 billion year-over-year at the mid-point. While the infrastructure planning process remains highly dynamic, we currently expect another year of similarly significant capital expenditures dollar growth in 2026 as we continue aggressively pursuing opportunities to bring additional capacity online to meet the needs of our artificial intelligence efforts and business operations," Meta said. Bottom line: bull market ... carry on! Meta's (META) stock is rocking higher in premarket, to the tune of 12% after a monster quarter. Got to love the market ignoring the capex stuff in its earnings release below, and focusing in on Meta's revenue trends (strong). "We currently expect 2025 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $66-72 billion, narrowed from our prior outlook of $64-72 billion and up approximately $30 billion year-over-year at the mid-point. While the infrastructure planning process remains highly dynamic, we currently expect another year of similarly significant capital expenditures dollar growth in 2026 as we continue aggressively pursuing opportunities to bring additional capacity online to meet the needs of our artificial intelligence efforts and business operations," Meta said. Bottom line: bull market ... carry on! Microsoft earnings call: A quick take A bit of a sleepy earnings call from Microsoft (MSFT) after the close, filled with the typical Satya Nadella tech jargon. Bottom line is this: Azure sales crushed, and there was zero signs of peaking AI demand. That should be good enough for the bulls. "We expect stock to trade up given continued large Azure growth beats and a positive AI trajectory even with continued capacity constraints. We think this also bodes well for other AI infrastructure names in our coverage (Oracle (ORCL), Coreweave (CRWV)," Citi analyst Tyler Radke said. A bit of a sleepy earnings call from Microsoft (MSFT) after the close, filled with the typical Satya Nadella tech jargon. Bottom line is this: Azure sales crushed, and there was zero signs of peaking AI demand. That should be good enough for the bulls. "We expect stock to trade up given continued large Azure growth beats and a positive AI trajectory even with continued capacity constraints. We think this also bodes well for other AI infrastructure names in our coverage (Oracle (ORCL), Coreweave (CRWV)," Citi analyst Tyler Radke said.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Poll: Nearly 70% of Americans — including a majority of Republicans — think the government is hiding something about Jeffrey Epstein
About a quarter believe the well-connected sex offender committed suicide. Twice as many think he was murdered. Bipartisanship is rare in U.S. politics these days. But according to a new Yahoo/YouGov poll, there's now at least one thing that more than two-thirds of Americans seem to agree on: that the government is 'hiding' information about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The survey of 1,729 U.S. adults, which was conducted from July 24 to 28, shows that a clear consensus has formed across party lines about how the government has handled the questions surrounding Epstein's life and death. When respondents are told that President Trump's Justice Department has 'concluded that Epstein did not have a 'client list' of famous associates who engaged in wrongdoing with him,' 69% of them still say the government is 'hiding information about Epstein's client list.' That group includes a majority of Republicans (55%). Just 8% of Americans, meanwhile, say the government isn't concealing information about a client list. About a quarter of U.S. adults (23%) believe the Justice Department's conclusion that Epstein died by suicide after hanging himself in jail. The rest think Epstein was murdered (47%) or say they're not sure what happened (30%). Nearly as many Republicans (42%) as Democrats (51%) believe Epstein was killed. As a result, nearly seven in 10 Americans (67%) say the government is hiding information about Epstein's death. Again, that group includes a majority of Republicans (52%). What do people think is going on? About half of Americans (48%) — including 81% of Democrats and 53% of independents — think the government is hiding information about Epstein's client list 'because it would implicate Trump.' Even among Republicans, 13% say the same and 16% say they're unsure. The new Yahoo/YouGov poll comes amid ongoing right-wing backlash over how the administration has handled its investigation into Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial for allegedly paying dozens of teenage girls, some as young as 14, to perform sex acts. The disgraced financier has long been the focus of conspiracy theories that claim he was murdered to conceal the names of powerful people on a secret 'client list.' During the 2024 campaign, Trump said he would consider releasing additional government files on Epstein. Then, after returning to the White House, he directed the Justice Department to conduct an exhaustive review of any evidence it had collected. Earlier this month, the DOJ and FBI released a two-page joint memo concluding that Epstein had 'committed suicide in his cell" and compiled no such 'client list' — echoing previous findings by the Biden administration. The move enraged some Trump loyalists, who accused the president and his administration of breaking their promise to release all of the Epstein files. It also put the spotlight back on Trump's own relationship with Epstein. Speaking to reporters Monday in Scotland, Trump said he never visited Epstein's notorious private island, even when given the chance. 'I never had the privilege of going to his island, and I did turn him down,' Trump said. 'But a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island.' Low marks for the administration's approach For the president, the Epstein controversy now seems to be creating a credibility gap with the public — including some of his own supporters. Just 21% of Americans approve of the way the president is handling the investigation, his lowest rating this year on any individual issue; nearly three times as many (61%) disapprove. Meanwhile, 44% of Republicans — roughly half the number who applaud his approach to immigration — approve of how Trump has dealt with the investigation. A majority of Americans (55%) say the president has 'not gone far enough' in his efforts to 'get to the bottom' of the Epstein case; combined, less than a quarter say that his approach has been about right (16%) or that it has gone too far (7%). A third of Republicans (33%) say Trump has not gone far enough. Attorney General Pam Bondi — the face of the administration's Epstein efforts — is now deeply unpopular: 26% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of her. And while confidence in the Justice Department wasn't high the last time Yahoo and YouGov asked about it, in August 2022 — back then, 44% said they had 'a lot' of confidence or 'some' confidence in the DOJ; 56% said they had 'a little' or 'none' — today those numbers are even worse: 39% and 61%, respectively. Why the Epstein story has broken through The new Yahoo/YouGov poll suggests three potential explanations. First, ubiquity: Nearly all respondents (91%) have heard either a lot (50%) or a little (41%) about the story. That's the fourth highest 'heard a lot' score recorded in any Yahoo/YouGov poll since 2020; only the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 (70%), Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards that same year (66%) and Trump getting indicted in 2023 (57%) have topped it. Meanwhile, a full 84% of Americans say they think Epstein was guilty — including 91% of Democrats, 90% of independents and 77% of Republicans. Second, Epstein's bipartisan circle. In the poll, respondents were reminded that Epstein 'had a wide circle of influential friends and acquaintances, including former President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump.' Then they were asked if either president 'engaged in crimes' with the financier — and nearly half of Americans said yes for Clinton (47%) and Trump (48%). In contrast, the share who said the two presidents did not engage in crimes with Epstein —12% for Clinton, 26% for Trump — was much lower. Conspiracy theories may be more attractive when they have the power to hurt the other side as well. Third, conspiracy theories in general seem to have become more mainstream recently. For example, a majority of Democrats (51%) believe "many top politicians are involved in child sex-trafficking rings.' A majority of Republicans (51%) believe that "regardless of who is officially in charge of the government and other organizations, there is a single group of people who secretly control events and rule the world together.' A majority of Democrats (57%) believe 'the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pa. was staged in order to help him win the 2024 election.' A majority of Republicans (58%) believe 'Trump's would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, didn't act alone.' And a majority of Republicans (63%) also believe that former President Barack Obama 'committed treason to try to sabotage Donald Trump in the 2016 election' — as Trump has been claiming lately, without proof. What's next? Americans are clear about what they want: More than eight in 10 (84%) say they would approve of the government 'releasing all of the information it has on Jeffrey Epstein.' Just 5% would disapprove. Conversely, more than two-thirds of Americans (69%) disapprove of the decision last week by Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, to send "the U.S. House of Representatives home early for the summer to avoid having to vote on releasing the Epstein files.' Only 10% approve. Previously, Johnson had said that Congress 'should put everything out there and let the people decide it.' With Dylan Stableford __________________ The Yahoo survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,729 U.S. adults interviewed online from July 24 to 28, 2025. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 election turnout and presidential vote, party identification and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Party identification is weighted to the estimated distribution at the time of the election (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately 3.1%.