Merz, Macron to Discuss Fighter Jet Leadership
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron are set to meet in Berlin to address escalating tensions over the Future Combat Air System jet program. The dispute centers on a leadership tussle between the two main defense contractors, France's Dassault Aviation and Airbus. Let's talk to Bloomberg's Benedict Kammel, who leads our global aviation coverage. What then, Benny, is this dispute all about? Well, it's really between Airbus on the one side, which sort of broadly represent the German side. And on the other side, you have Dassault representing the French side. And the question really is who is going to lead this program? They did have an agreement saying we want it to be broadly equal as a third company in this Indra, of Spain. So the idea was let's have sort of equal share of this program, the future aircraft combat system. So but then Dassault came out and said we would like to have a leadership role in this. The reason being we make the Rafale fighter jet. We know a thing or two about building these. We should really be in control. We can't be some sort of a happy socialist union here. We need to have one party in control, and that's us. That obviously didn't sit well with Airbus. All of this broke into the open last month at the Paris Air Show. So you had Airbus on the one side saying, why are we relitigating this whole issue? We thought we'd had an agreement. This is really tiring. Then on the other side, you had Dassault coming out and saying, well, this is the way it should be. Take it our way, or we might even walk away from the whole program. So this is where we're at right now. So you're bringing the adults in, as it were, you bringing in the political leadership and saying, guys, you need to sort this out, you need to sort this out. It's Europe at stake. It's one of the key programs at stake. And hopefully today and in the next couple of weeks, they will find some kind of an agreement.
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NextDecade (NEXT), Venture Global (VG), and Cheniere Energy (LNG)jumped between 7% and 8.8%. Samsung to make AI chips for Tesla under $16.5 billion deal Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF) has landed a $16.5 billion deal to make Tesla's (TSLA) next-generation AI chip. The agreement, which runs through the end of 2033, will see the South Korean company produce the AI6 semiconductor at an upcoming plant in Texas. Shares of Tesla stepped up 1.5% in premarket trading, after its CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X that the EV maker had struck the multibillion-dollar deal. Meanwhile, Samsung's Seoul-traded stock rose almost 7% to its highest level since September. 'The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate,' Musk wrote. "The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher." Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF) has landed a $16.5 billion deal to make Tesla's (TSLA) next-generation AI chip. The agreement, which runs through the end of 2033, will see the South Korean company produce the AI6 semiconductor at an upcoming plant in Texas. Shares of Tesla stepped up 1.5% in premarket trading, after its CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X that the EV maker had struck the multibillion-dollar deal. Meanwhile, Samsung's Seoul-traded stock rose almost 7% to its highest level since September. 'The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate,' Musk wrote. "The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher." Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Oil rises with EU-US trade deal locked in Oil prices eked out gains as the US and the EU finalized details of a trade deal ahead of Trump's Aug. 1 deadline. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Oil prices eked out gains as the US and the EU finalized details of a trade deal ahead of Trump's Aug. 1 deadline. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. European stock futures rise on US-EU trade deal announcement Futures in European stock indexes saw positive bumps early morning Monday as the markets reacted to the announcement of a tariff deal between the US and the EU Interest in individual stocks in carmakers, luxury goods makers, and alcohol conglomerates is rising ahead of the market open Monday with those industries the most impacted by the deal. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Futures in European stock indexes saw positive bumps early morning Monday as the markets reacted to the announcement of a tariff deal between the US and the EU Interest in individual stocks in carmakers, luxury goods makers, and alcohol conglomerates is rising ahead of the market open Monday with those industries the most impacted by the deal. Bloomberg reports: Read more here.
