Trump celebrates tax bill victory at Iowa fairground rally
The package will add $3.4-trillion (R59.6-trillion) to the nation's $36.2-trillion (R634.62-trillion) debt, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
The passage of the bill marked weeks of arm twisting by Trump and his allies in Congress to convince sceptical Republicans to push through the bill on a rapid timetable.
It was part of a string of victories for Trump in recent days, including convincing Iran and Israel to agree to a ceasefire after the US struck Iran's nuclear sites last month.
Trump lambasted Democrats in Congress for voting against the measure, which passed on party-line votes in both chambers. He attributed that to Democrats hating him.
'But I hate them too,' he said.
Trump said the vote will make for campaign fodder during next year's midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at stake. Some Republicans worry that deep cuts to the Medicaid health programme will hurt the party's prospects in the 2026 midterm elections.
The president said the bill will bolster his aggressive immigration enforcement and deportation efforts but again pledged to work with farms and hotels concerned about a thinning labour force.
Trump's trade policies have whipsawed agricultural communities in Iowa, creating economic uncertainty and testing loyalties. Iowa farmers have been hit hard, especially with China's retaliatory tariffs slashing soybean exports and prices.
Reuters spoke to five attendees at the rally who said they braved the sweltering heat to show support for Trump. Most praised his handling of immigration and grocery prices.
Despite widespread media coverage, only one of the five was aware of the existence of the tax-cut bill and praised it for giving Trump more resources for immigration enforcement.
Reuters
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Daily Maverick
32 minutes ago
- Daily Maverick
‘Still room for engagement' says Parks Tau as Trump's tariff deadline looms
South Africa has been pushing to negotiate a trade deal with the US in order to prevent US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. Minister for Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau says the US has signalled that there's 'still room for engagement' on South Africa's request for an extension of the 90-day pause on new US tariffs. This comes as US President Donald Trump said on Friday morning, 4 July, that the White House will begin notifying countries about new tariffs being imposed on them. Some tariffs, Trump said, could be even steeper than originally announced, according to a report from The New York Times. Trump imposed a 30% tariff on SA in April, as part of his global 'reciprocal' tariffs, before agreeing to suspend their application for 90 days, saying he would hammer out bilateral deals with trade partners. The 90-day pause on Trump's tariff hikes will end on 9 July. SA, and other countries around the globe, have been pushing to negotiate trade deals with the US in order to prevent Trump's sweeping tariffs. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) said this week that SA has requested an extension of the 90-day pause, to enable it to revise its proposed deal in accordance with the Trump administration's new template for US trade with sub-Saharan Africa. 'In this regard, we are of the view that South Africa may need to resubmit its Framework Deal in accordance with the new template. It is thus expected that the deadline may be shifted,' said Tau in a statement on Tuesday, 1 July. 'We urge the South African industry to exercise strategic patience and not take decisions in haste and that government will continue to use every avenue to engage the US government to find [an] amicable solution to safeguard South African interests in the US market,' he added. The US's plan to introduce a new trade template with countries in sub-Saharan Africa emerged in engagements between Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Zuko Godlimpi, and the Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa, Connie Hamilton, on the sidelines of the US-Africa Summit in Luanda, Angola, in June. 'Very good' engagement According to Tau, Godlimpi had a 'very good' engagement with Hamilton, where there was an 'indication that there is still room for engagement'. He told Daily Maverick on Friday that he believed discussions with the US will continue beyond 9 July. 'We submitted a draft Framework Agreement and they [the US] have not responded. They indicated that they are not in a position to finalise that right now, so it is their intention that discussions would go on beyond the 9th. So at this point we are awaiting an announcement from them,' Tau said. SA initially submitted a proposed Framework Deal to the US on 20 May, a day before President Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump met at the White House in Washington, DC. The initial proposal included deals on agriculture, critical minerals, automotives and other exports. 'The Framework Deal addresses US concerns relating to, among others, non-tariff barriers, trade deficit, and commercial relations through two-way procurement or import of strategic goods. It aims to also resolve long-standing market access issues of interest to both sides and to promote bilateral investments in a mutually beneficial manner,' read the DTIC statement this week. SA is also seeking to have some of its key exports exempt from the Sections 232 duties, including autos, auto parts, steel and aluminum. It is also seeking a maximum tariff application of 10% 'as a worst case scenario', according to the DTIC. 'The Framework also seeks exemption for Small and Medium Enterprises, counter-seasonal products and products that the US does not have productive capacity for,' it said. What's at stake? The US is South Africa's second-largest trading partner after China. More than 600 American firms are operating in SA. In 2024, trade between SA and the US totalled $20.5-billion, with South African exports consisting largely of precious metals, cars and auto parts, iron and steel, and aluminium products, Daily Maverick reported. SA has benefited immensely from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) which has enabled it to export a range of products and goods to the US market duty-free. But Trump's new tariff regime would upend the country's long-standing arrangement under Agoa. Professor Bob Wekesa, director of Wits University's African Centre for the Study of the United States, said he believed SA has tried its best to reach a bilateral agreement with the US. 'I don't think we should dismiss the efforts of the Government of National Unity… I think they've done their best,' he said. 'The tricky part is that Trump has refined the art of raising the bar; raising so many issues that you come kneeling before him, you come to the negotiations on the back foot.' He said that while countries such as the UK and Vietnam have both reached trade agreements with the US in recent weeks, South Africa was bound to struggle because 'it's being targeted on other fronts, which are political [and] diplomatic'. Nevertheless, Wekesa said it would be 'disastrous' for SA if Trump's tariffs were to come into effect again. 'It would mean that South African goods and services are impacted – almost a cessation of trade – particularly in critical areas like agricultural products, and specifically the citrus market, in areas of manufacturing, particularly in motor vehicles, and of course, related fields,' he said. He added that it would be a 'big hit' for SA's economy. This will have an 'immediate impact' on the budgets and resources that the government can use for service delivery, according to Wekesa. 'This will of course be on top of the cessation of funding that was coming through USAID [United States Agency for International Development],' he said. Wekesa noted that South Africa is 'not the only country' that has certain critical minerals, like platinum and hydroxide. Next week, Trump will host leaders from five African nations in Washington to discuss 'commercial opportunities', according to a Reuters report. 'These countries also have critical minerals. So the idea that [the] US will lose out on the export of those minerals [from SA], I don't think, is a very strong one… The leaders of Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Mauritania, and Liberia are heading to the US. When you look at all the critical minerals from those countries they include all these minerals… One wonders if the US is actually divesting away from South Africa, or reliance on South Africa, by going to these countries to see if it can strike a deal. 'In many of these countries they don't have proper critical minerals policies or strategies – they are essentially weak countries, so the US can strike deals quite fast there,' he said. DM
Eyewitness News
8 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
Rio to host BRICS summit wary of Trump
RIO DE JANEIRO - A summit of BRICS nations will convene in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday and Monday, with members hoping to weigh in on global crises while tiptoeing around US President Donald Trump's policies. The city, with beefed-up security, will play host to leaders and diplomats from 11 emerging economies, including China, India, Russia and South Africa, which represent nearly half of the world's population and 40% of its GDP. Brazil's left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will have to navigate the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will miss the summit for the first time. Beijing will instead be represented by its Prime Minister Li Qiang. Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is facing a pending International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, will not travel to Brazil, but is set to participate via video link, according to the Kremlin. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, fresh from a 12-day conflict with Israel and a skirmish with the United States, will also be absent, as will his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, a Brazilian government source told AFP. Tensions in the Middle East, including Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, will weigh on the summit, as well as the grim anticipation of tariffs threatened by Trump due next week. 'CAUTIOUS' "We're anticipating a summit with a cautious tone: it will be difficult to mention the United States by name in the final declaration," Marta Fernandez, director of the BRICS Policy Center at Rio's Pontifical Catholic University, told AFP. China, for example, "is trying to adopt a restrained position on the Middle East", Fernandez said, pointing out that Beijing was also in tricky tariff negotiations with Washington. "This doesn't seem to be the right time to provoke further friction" between the world's two leading economies, the researcher said. BRICS members did not issue a strong statement on the Iran-Israel conflict and subsequent US military strikes due to their "diverging" interests, according to Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. Brazil, nevertheless, hopes that countries can take a common stand at the summit, including on the most sensitive issues. "BRICS (countries), throughout their history, have managed to speak with one voice on major international issues, and there's no reason why that shouldn't be the case this time on the subject of the Middle East," Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told AFP. 'MULTILATERALISM' However, talks on finding an alternative to the dollar for trade between BRICS members are likely dead in the water. For Fernandez, it is almost "forbidden" to mention the idea within the group since Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on countries that challenge the dollar's international dominance. Brazil, which in 2030 will host the COP30 UN climate conference, also hopes to find unity on the fight against climate change. Artificial intelligence and global governance reform will also be on the menu. "The escalation of the Middle East conflict reinforces the urgency of the debate on the need to reform global governance and strengthen multilateralism," said Foreign Minister Vieira. Since 2023, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia have joined the BRICS, formed in 2009 as a counter-balance to leading Western economies. But, as Fernandez points out, this expansion "makes it all the more difficult to build a strong consensus."
eNCA
9 hours ago
- eNCA
Rio to host BRICS summit wary of Trump
RIO DEO JANEIRO - The BRICS nations will convene for a summit in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday and Monday, with members hoping to weigh in on global crises while tiptoeing around US President Donald Trump's policies. The city, with beefed-up security, will play host to leaders and diplomats from 11 emerging economies including China, India, Russia, South Africa and host Brazil, which represent nearly half of the world's population and 40 percent of its GDP. Brazil's left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will have to navigate the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will miss the summit for the first time. Beijing will instead be represented by Premier Li Qiang. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is facing a pending International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, will not travel to Brazil, but is set to participate via video link, according to the Kremlin. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, fresh from a 12-day conflict with Israel and a skirmish with the United States, will also be absent, as will his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a Brazilian government source told AFP. Tensions in the Middle East, including Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, will weigh on the summit, as well as the grim anticipation of tariffs threatened by Trump and due next week. Trump said that starting Friday, his administration would send countries letters stating their tariff levels, as negotiations to avoid higher US levies enter the final stretch. - 'Cautious' - "We're anticipating a summit with a cautious tone: it will be difficult to mention the United States by name in the final declaration," Marta Fernandez, director of the BRICS Policy Center at Rio's Pontifical Catholic University, told AFP. China, for example, "is trying to adopt a restrained position on the Middle East," Fernandez said, pointing out that Beijing was also in tricky tariff negotiations with Washington. "This doesn't seem to be the right time to provoke further friction" between the world's two leading economies, the researcher said. BRICS members did not issue a strong statement on the Iran-Israel conflict and subsequent US military strikes due to their "diverging" interests, according to Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. Brazil nevertheless hopes that countries can take a common stand at the summit, including on the most sensitive issues. "BRICS (countries), throughout their history, have managed to speak with one voice on major international issues, and there's no reason why that shouldn't be the case this time on the subject of the Middle East," Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told AFP. Lula on Friday again defended the idea of finding an alternative to the dollar for trade among BRICS nations. "I know it is complicated. There are political problems," Lula said at a BRICS banking event. "But if we do not find a new formula, we are going to finish the 21st century the way we started the 20th." - 'Multilateralism' - However, talks on this idea are likely dead in the water. For Fernandez, it is almost "forbidden" to mention the idea within the group since Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on countries that challenge the dollar's international dominance. Brazil, which later this year will host the COP30 UN climate conference, also hopes to find unity on the fight against climate change. Artificial intelligence and global governance reform will also be on the menu. "The escalation of the Middle East conflict reinforces the urgency of the debate on the need to reform global governance and strengthen multilateralism," said foreign minister Vieira. Since 2023, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia have joined BRICS, formed in 2009 as a counter-balance to leading Western economies. But, as Fernandez points out, this expansion "makes it all the more difficult to build a strong consensus." By Facundo Fernández Barrio
