EU eyes quick trade deal as Trump announces more tariffs – DW – 07/09/2025
The European Union said Wednesday it could strike an outline trade deal with the United States within days — just as US President Donald Trump ramped up threats of new tariffs.
Trump, widening a trade war that has unsettled the global economy, announced a day earlier he would slap a 50% tariff on imported copper and soon roll out long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Trump issued a fresh round of tariff letters targeting six countries, the White House confirmed Wednesday.
The letters call for tariffs of 30% on Algeria, 25% on Brunei, 30% on Iraq, 30% on Libya, 25% on Moldova and 20% on the Philippines.
The US president had said that "a minimum of seven" new tariff notices would land Wednesday morning, with more to follow.
The latest threat comes a day after he sent tariff letters to 14 trading partners — including major trading partners South Korea and Japan — warning of 25% and higher duties from August 1.
Trump said trade talks with China and the EU were going "very well" and promised to reveal the EU's new export rates "probably" within two days.
"They treated us very badly until recently, and now they're treating us very nicely. It's like a different world, actually," he said on Tuesday.
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EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told lawmakers good progress had been made on a framework agreement and a deal might be possible within days.
He told EU lawmakers he hoped that EU negotiators could finalize their work soon, with additional time now after the US deadline was extended from July 9 to August 1.
"I hope to reach a satisfactory conclusion, potentially even in the coming days," Sefcovic said.
However, Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti cautioned that talks remain "very complicated" and could drag on until the last moment.
If the new measures go ahead, they would push US tariffs to their highest levels since 1934. Markets shrugged off Trump's latest salvo, while the yen weakened further after Japan was hit with new tariff threats.
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German-Polish border checks: 'They make our life difficult' – DW – 07/10/2025
For years, people living near the German-Polish frontier took the open border for granted in their daily lives. With the re-introduction of border checks, all that is changing. The bridge that connects the German city of Frankfurt an der Oder and the Polish city of Slubice is quite a strange sight these days. Rows of EU flags have been hoisted on it and on either side of it. Those crossing from the German side see a sign that reads "Frankfurt Oder - Slubice" and the words "Ohne Grenzen. Bez Granic" — "without borders" in German and Polish. But the slogan, which both cities have been using in their joint marketing campaign for years now, no longer applies the way it used to. Germany began carrying out spot checks at the border in October 2023, and Poland followed suit on Monday, July 7. Poland has reinstated controls at 52 border crossings with Germany and 13 with Lithuania. 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3 hours ago
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German-Polish border checks: 'They may our lives difficult' – DW – 07/10/2025
For years, people living near the German-Polish frontier took the open border for granted in their daily lives. With the re-introduction of border checks, all that is changing. The bridge that connects the German city of Frankfurt an der Oder and the Polish city of Slubice is quite a strange sight these days. Rows of EU flags have been hoisted on it and on either side of it. Those crossing from the German side see a sign that reads "Frankfurt Oder - Slubice" and the words "Ohne Grenzen. Bez Granic" — "without borders" in German and Polish. But the slogan, which both cities have been using in their joint marketing campaign for years now, no longer applies the way it used to. Germany began carrying out spot checks at the border in October 2023, and Poland followed suit on Monday, July 7. Poland has reinstated controls at 52 border crossings with Germany and 13 with Lithuania. 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But their banners — emblazoned with the words "No Immigration" and "Stop imigracji" — are attached to the bridge's metal railings. Toward midday, two men arrive. They are later joined by three more. They stand together, using their smartphones to film the border guards as they conduct checks. Neither the police officers nor the Polish border guards pay them any attention. The members of these so-called "citizen patrols" are curt and wary about anything they perceive as German. One man, who comes from Slubice, gives German answers to any questions put to him in Polish. "You're from the German media!" he says reproachfully. He doesn't want to make any statements on the record. Tomasz, who also comes from Slubice and is wearing a baseball cap with the words "Trump 2024. Take America back," has more to say. Although he himself does not take part in the patrols, he thinks they are good: "The only reason these checks are being carried out is because of the Border Defense Movement, which forced the Polish government to carry them out," he tells DW. But he feels that it would make more sense to patrol the forests in the border region: Even though there is no proof, Tomasz is convinced that the German police are secretly sending migrants back to Poland through the forests. In the course of the day, people who want both countries to stop conducting checks appear at the border, too. Three men from the Frankfurt Remains Colorful network hold up signs. One of them includes a German translation of the words of the late Pope Francis: "The future is not built in isolation." One of the group, German citizen Jan Augustyniak, is afraid that the freedom of travel between Poland and Germany, which has been in place since Poland joined the Schengen area in December 2007, is being increasingly restricted. "When Germany introduced controls in October 2023, they were only supposed to last three months," he says. "Now, it's July 2025 and we have checks on both sides of the border." A native of Frankfurt an der Oder, he believes that as more and more countries go it alone and apply for exceptions to Schengen rules, the Schengen Agreement will at some point become worthless. Frankfurt an der Oder and Slubice have long been seen as a model of European integration. It's impossible to determine how closely the two cities have become intertwined and the number of joint projects carried out by them over the last 30 years. There is a joint district heating system for both cities, children and young people learn Polish and German right throughout school, thousands of Poles commute to the German side for work and Germans go shopping or to the dentist on the Polish side. And then there are all the tiny aspects of daily life in a border region: nipping across the border for cigarettes or gasoline, going out for a meal or visiting friends. All of this has been par for the course for years. "The checks that have been in place on the German side for some time now have a negative impact on us. When it comes to personal relations, the economy and traffic, they make our lives difficult," Slubice Mayor Marzena Slodownik tells DW. She is critical of the fact that none of the people making decisions in Berlin and Warsaw know how people live here in the border region. "The provisions being imposed from above have an enormous influence on our lives. This will inevitably have an impact on mutual relations," says Slodownik. She would like to see a different way of dealing with migration that takes into account the way people in the border region lead their lives. The Polish border controls pass off without incident on Monday, although there are tailbacks from time to time. The Polish border guards check the bus that shuttles back and forth between the two cities and conduct spot checks on larger vans and cars with tinted windows. Some pedestrians are asked to show their papers, too. It often appears as if people's appearance determines who is allowed to pass and who is given a more thorough check. People perceived as migrants seem to be stopped most. Over the course of several hours, the Polish border guards find no one who is not allowed to enter Poland. Eventually, two Chechen women are turned back. They later explained to DW that they wanted to go shopping in Slubice — something they often do. The women showed the guards their papers (residence permits for Germany). To cross the Polish border, however, they have to show their passports, which they have left at home. "I just wanted to buy tomatoes," says one of the women, shrugging her shoulders and going back across the bridge to Frankfurt.
