China Reacts to Laser Accusation by US's NATO Ally
Germany, a NATO ally, said the aircraft was taking part in the European Union's (EU) Operation ASPIDES, a defensive maritime security operation to protect international shipping in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Gulf.
"As we have learned from the competent authorities, what Germany said is fully inconsistent with the facts that China knows," said Mao Ning, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, at a press briefing on Wednesday, July 9.
"The Chinese Navy's escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and the waters of Somalia say much about China fulfilling its responsibility as a major country and contributing to the safety of international shipping lanes.
"The two sides should strengthen communication in a facts-based and timely way to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation."
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
British steelmakers boosted by change to EU tariffs
British steelmakers will be able to sell more to the EU tariff-free from Friday in a boost for the beleaguered sector. The EU has agreed to more than double the UK's tariff-free quota for certain steel products in a move the Government described as a 'direct win' from Sir Keir Starmer's deal with the bloc earlier this year. At May's UK-EU summit, Sir Keir and European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen agreed to restore Britain's steel quotas to historic levels after they were slashed in March. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the announcement was 'yet another positive step forward for the UK steel sector' that would give producers 'certainty'. The agreement comes at a difficult time for the industry, which continues to face 25% tariffs on exports to the US. An agreement with President Donald Trump to effectively reduce those tariffs to zero is yet to come into effect, but Britain has been protected from the 50% tariff Mr Trump imposed on steel from the rest of the world last month. UK Steel director general Gareth Stace said Friday's change was 'excellent news' for the sector that had been 'plagued by problems' in exporting steel to the EU. He added: 'The quota will restore historic trade flows and is good news for both UK steelmakers and their EU customers.' The decision means the UK can export 27,000 tonnes of 'category 17' steel – which includes angles and sections of steel – to the EU each quarter without paying tariffs. The figure had been cut to 10,000 tonnes after the EU introduced a cap intended to prevent a single exporter dominating the market. In total, the UK exports around 2.4 million tonnes of steel to the EU, worth nearly £3 billion and accounting for 75% of British steel exports. Ministers expect the change to help protect jobs in the industry, which has been a priority for the Labour Government since coming to power. In April, the Government used an almost unprecedented weekend recall of Parliament to take control of British Steel to prevent the shutdown of its blast furnaces and maintain the UK's primary steel-making capacity. British Steel's interim chief operating officer Lisa Coulson said: 'The removal of EU tariffs on British-made steel is a significant boost to our business. 'The EU is an important market to us, particularly for the products our highly skilled colleagues manufacture in Scunthorpe, Teesside, and Skinningrove.' But Conservative shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith described the quota as 'tiny' and 'embarrassing from a Government which has nothing to show on removing the US tariffs on steel which the PM claimed to have delivered back in May'. He added: 'It's a paltry return for giving up 12 years of fishing rights and tying the energy costs of every business to a higher cost EU emissions regime over which the UK will have no say. 'When Labour nationalised British Steel we said they had no plan. This government by press release shows we were right.'
New York Post
10 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump struck huge trade deals — but tariffs are about to go up on a huge swath of imports as Liberation Day tariffs hit
WASHINGTON — Countries around the world rushed Thursday to negotiate last-minute trade deals with the US before sweeping new tariffs take effect Friday — after President Trump already locked up major agreements accounting for about one-third of American trade. As of Thursday evening, the US had secured framework agreements calling for a 15% tariff on the European Union, a 10% duty on the United Kingdom, a 20% rate for Vietnam, a 19% levy for the Philippines and Indonesia, and a 15% levy on Japan and South Korea — while securing $2.25 trillion in promised investments and purchases of US goods. Trump also allowed extensions for China and Mexico — two of America's top economic partners responsible for 27% of US trade, as he irons out the details and tries to open their markets to more American goods. Countries who account for 40% of US trade were due to receive letters by midnight Eastern Time, informing them of new rates as high as 50%. Sectoral tariffs, including a 50% rate on foreign copper, aluminum and steel and a 20% on overseas pharmaceuticals, will also go into effect. Notably, Canada — America's second largest trading partner and a particular target of Trump's ire — looks set for a new 35% duty. But rates for more than 100 countries were still being negotiated with Trump's trade team Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post in her regular briefing. 3 White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said tariffs will be imposed at midnight Eastern Time on Aug. 1, upon an executive order from Trump. REUTERS 'Upwards of 200 countries around the world have reached out to their trade and tariff team,' Leavitt told reporters of the conversations had throughout negotiations, noting that the White House will continue to 'prioritize' key trading partners on the last stretch. Leavitt wouldn't reveal the exact rates countries will be charged — but said Trump's team 'has been working around the clock to try to be in correspondence with as many countries as possible.' It looked unlikely a deal with Canada — which bought $350 billion in American goods last year while exporting $412 billion to the US — could be struck before the tariffs kicked. 'They have to pay a fair rate,' Trump told reporters of the holdup Thursday. 'They have been charging very, very high tariffs to our farmers.' Trump has also been leveraging America's economic power in the trade war by invoking other geopolitical grievances. India was threatened with a 25% tariff, plus an additional penalty for importing Russian weapons and energy. And even though the US has a trade surplus with Brazil, South America's biggest economy will be hit with an astronomical 50% rate due to their treatment of Trump ally and former president Jair Bolsonaro. 3 Trump has threatened countries with tariffs as high as 50%. AP Trump first announced tariff hikes as a part of his 'Liberation Deal' announcement on April 2, threatening to impose high rates at a 'reciprocal' level to account for trade discrepancies and levies charged by trading partners. He then paused his high tariffs a week later and set most rates at 10%, with the expectation that '90 deals' would be done in '90 days.' Since then, Trump has made a number of key deals with major trading partners, and the administration has predicted the Aug. 1 deadline will push others to follow suit in the coming weeks and months. Trump first made a deal with the UK in May, locking in a 10% tariff and securing the promise that the country will 'open up' their market to US goods, notably agricultural products like beef. 3 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he won't accept a 'bad deal' from Trump, so the 35% rate may go forth. REUTERS The president then struck a 20% tariff deal with Vietnam, a 19% rate with the Philippines and Indonesia, a 15% rate with Japan and South Korea — and then announced a 15% rate on the European Union Sunday. The EU deal was particularly impressive, as it significantly raised rates from their previous levels and includes pledges for the EU to buy $750 billion in American energy, invest $600 billion in new money in the US and purchase additional military equipment. China, America's no. 3 trading partner, has separate ongoing negotiations and has a deadline of Aug. 12 to come to a final deal. Mexico received a 90-day extension in a last minute phone call with Trump on Thursday, pushing their talks to a later date while keeping the 25% tariff as punishment for fentanyl crossing the border, a 25% tariff on cars and a 50% rate on the country's aluminum, copper and steel. Other world leaders were calling Thursday asking for possible extensions, Leavitt said, but the ultimate decision rests with Trump, who has indicated that the deadline is firm. 'I think he's done really good work here to expand export opportunities for the US and our producers,' said Richard Stern, acting director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Stern said the preliminary frameworks for some of the deals will also ensure Americans' intellectual property isn't being stolen — and force a quicker decoupling from China critical for national security. 'We view tariffs as a good tool for statecraft negotiation,' he added. 'The EU is really on this knife's edge of moving closer to China or moving closer to us.' 'As of tomorrow, US tariffs will be higher than they have been in a century — and hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes will be paid for by American companies and consumers,' warned Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the libertarian Cato Institute. Other unknown variables that could affect the tariffs were upcoming rulings by federal courts on Trump's powers to tax imports without congressional approval. 'The way I've been trying to describe it is there's a lot we still don't know and a few things we know,' Lincicome said. 'The US tariffs system has gone from, almost overnight, simple and transparent to a labyrinth of new requirements.' Mark DiPlacido, a policy adviser at the trade protectionist think tank American Compass disagreed, saying: 'The Trump administration's trade strategy is working.' 'The trade deals struck in recent weeks will help reduce US trade deficits, reshore industry, and generate quality American jobs,' added DiPlacido, who worked in the Office of the US Trade Representative during the first Trump administration. 'While many predicted the worst when higher rates were announced in April, the administration has shown that tariffs can be used effectively to increase market access, revenue, and investment without major price increases, job losses, or economic instability.'
Boston Globe
40 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Dozens of countries with no deals face higher tariffs as trade deadline nears
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up For those countries without an agreement, they could face duties of as much as 50 percent, including on large economies such as Brazil, Canada, Taiwan, and India. Many smaller countries are also on track to pay more, including South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and even Advertisement The duties originated from Trump's Advertisement As of Thursday afternoon, White House representatives — and Trump himself — insisted that no more delays were possible. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump 'at some point this afternoon or later this evening' will sign an order to impose new tariff rates starting midnight on Friday. Countries that have not received a prior letter on tariffs from Trump or negotiated a trade framework will be notified of their likely tariff rates, Leavitt said, either in the form of a letter or Trump's executive order. At least two dozen On Wednesday, Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social, 'THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE IS THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE — IT STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED.' In a flurry of last minute deal-making, the Trump has been announcing agreements as late as Thursday, but they are largely short on details. On Thursday, the United States and Pakistan And on Wednesday, Trump announced a deal with South Korea that would impose 15 percent tariffs on goods from that country. That is below the 25 percent duties that Trump threatened in April. Agreements have also been reached with the European Union, Indonesia, Vietnam, Advertisement The exact number of countries facing higher duties isn't clear, but the majority of the 200 have not made a deal. Trump has already slapped large duties on Brazil and India even before the deadline was reached. In the case of Brazil, Trump signed an executive order late Wednesday imposing a 50 percent duty on imports, though he exempted several large categories, including aircraft, aluminum, and energy products. Trump is While Trump has sought to justify the widespread tariffs as an effort to combat the United States' chronic trade deficits, the United States actually has a trade surplus with Brazil — meaning it sells more goods and services to Brazil than it buys from that country. Late Wednesday, Trump said that India would On Thursday, the White House said it had extended the deadline to reach a deal with Mexico for another 90 days, citing the complexity of the trade relationship, which is governed by the trade agreement Trump reached when he updated NAFTA in his first term.
