Latest news with #EricLombard
Kuwait Times
36 minutes ago
- Business
- Kuwait Times
France's president says EU-US deal ‘not the end of it'
PARIS: (Left to right)) France's Minister for Economy Eric Lombard, Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Annie Genevard, Secretary of State for AI and Digital Technology Clara Chappaz, Delegate Minister for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad Laurent Saint-Martin, Delegate Minister for Tourism Economy Nathalie Delattre, Minister in charge of Public Accounts Amelie de Montchalin and Delegate Minister for Trade, Crafts, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Social Economy Véronique Louwagie arrive for a meeting between ministers and economic stakeholders in Paris on July 30, 2025. -- AFP PARIS: France's President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday the European Union had not been 'feared' enough in negotiations with the United States towards a trade deal, pledging to be 'firm' in follow-up talks. 'It's not the end of it,' Macron told ministers during a cabinet meeting, according to participants. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched the framework accord with US President Donald Trump on Sunday after dashing to Scotland as the August 1 deadline loomed for steep levies that threatened to cripple Europe's economy. EU exports are now set to face tariffs of 15 percent on most products — higher than customs duties before Trump returned to the White House, but much lower than his threatened 30 percent. 'Europe does not see itself enough as a power yet. To be free, you have to be feared. We were not feared enough,' said Macron. 'France has always held a stance of being firm and demanding. It will continue to do so,' he added. The European Union could obtain 'new exemptions' in follow-up talks to firm up the deal in details, he said. He however said that negotiations had been held in 'difficult circumstances' and that the deal at least 'offered visibility and predictability' in the short term. — AFP
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Eurozone growth falters as Germany shrinks, tariff headwinds mount
Agencies Europe's economy barely grew in the second quarter of the year, official data showed on Wednesday, as the rush to ship goods before new U.S. tariffs eased and output in Germany, the region's largest economy, unexpectedly declined. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew an anemic 0.1% compared to the previous quarter in the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported. And prospects are mediocre for the coming months, given the 15% tariff, or import tax, imposed on European goods in the U.S. under the EU-U.S. trade deal announced Sunday. The higher tariff will burden European exports with higher costs to either be passed on to U.S. consumers or swallowed in the form of lower profits. The eurozone growth still held up better than feared amid expectations for an unchanged reading in the second quarter, suggesting that businesses are adapting to trade uncertainty, potentially reducing the need for more European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate cuts to stimulate the bloc. Compared to the second quarter a year earlier, the bloc's economy expanded by 1.4%, ahead of expectations for 1.2%. The economy sagged after a stronger-than-expected 0.6% growth in the first quarter, a figure inflated by companies trying to move product ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's additional tariff onslaught that was announced April 2, two days after the first quarter ended. When examined together, however, the first two quarters suggest resilience, supported by the most recent PMI reading, which showed that business activity accelerated faster than forecast, supported by a solid improvement in services and the continued recovery in manufacturing. Europe's economic powerhouse, Germany, unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% from the previous quarter. Italy's economy also contracted by 0.1% in the same period. Growth of 0.3% in France was boosted by a rise in auto and aircraft inventories, while domestic demand was otherwise stagnant. That left Spain as the only strong performer among the four largest eurozone economies at 0.7%. France's Economy Minister Eric Lombard said the figures for France demonstrated the country's companies were, however, proving resilient to U.S. tariff hikes. 'With the 15% U.S. universal tariff likely to subtract around 0.2% from the region's GDP, growth is likely to remain weak in the rest of this year,' said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics. The 27-country EU economy expanded by 0.2% over the April-June period from the previous quarter, after registering 0.5% growth in the first three months of 2025. Germany's economy remains roughly the same size as it was before the pandemic six years ago, as its export-dominated business sector struggles with multiple issues, including stronger competition from China, a lack of skilled workers, higher energy prices, lagging infrastructure investment, and burdensome regulation and bureaucracy. Palmas said that Germany 'is likely to be hit harder than other major economies by tariffs and continue to struggle this year' before increased government spending from the new government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, aimed at boosting defense and making up the infrastructure gap, starts to boost the economy in 2026. Economists also argue that a sharp increase in budget spending from next year could be a boost to growth that will offset much of the tariffs' impact. This economic resilience is a key factor why financial investors think the ECB is close to done easing borrowing costs after halving its key rate to 2% in the past 13 months. Markets see just a 50% chance of another cut by December and a small chance that rates will actually start rising toward the end of 2026 as the economy gathers speed and price pressure starts rising is far from over, however. The EU has yet to sign its trade deal with the U.S., and plenty of details remain to be worked out, indicating that it could take months for businesses to gain the confidence to make investment decisions. China has also yet to strike a deal with the U.S., raising fears that Beijing will be forced to dump surplus goods on the rest of the world, depressing prices elsewhere. Such dumping could then lower eurozone inflation and force the ECB into cutting interest rates on fears that below-target inflation, its main worry in the pre-pandemic decade, is returning.
LeMonde
a day ago
- Business
- LeMonde
French economy posts timid, deceptive rebound in the second quarter of 2025
The French economy proved more resilient than expected in the second quarter of 2025. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth, according to figures published by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) on Wednesday, July 30, stood at 0.3%, up from 0.1% in the first quarter. This represents the country's best quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2024. "It's good news," said Economy Minister Eric Lombard, speaking on RTL radio Wednesday morning. "The 0.3% growth we saw in the second quarter clearly shows that, at a time when the tariffs were already in effect, companies are holding up" against the shock of the trade war. The statistics, however, tell a somewhat different story. Final domestic demand, which includes both household consumption and business investment, was flat in the second quarter after a slight decline of 0.1% in the first. The domestic French economy was, therefore, stagnant throughout the first half of the year. "The figures aren't good, demand is weak, consumption is stabilizing," said Maxime Darmet, an economist at Allianz Trade. "There is no strong drive" in the French economy, added Stéphane Colliac, an economist at BNP Paribas. The only truly positive factor came from companies' inventories, which contributed 0.5 percentage points to growth. "It is, above all, inventories that explain the second quarter growth," said Marie Leclair, head of the national accounts department at INSEE. Foreign trade, meanwhile, had a negative impact on growth, with imports rising faster (+0.8%) than exports did (+0.2%). Unusually high savings The slight growth rebound in the second quarter was therefore primarily due to technical factors. Nevertheless, it should allow annual growth to slightly exceed the INSEE's forecast of 0.6% for 2025, possibly reaching 0.7%, according to Leclair. Looking at the details, household consumption remained weak, growing 0.1% after having dropped by 0.3% in the first quarter. Even this slight improvement was deceptive: It was partly driven by food consumption, as Easter fell in April in 2025, thereby counting toward the second quarter, whereas it came in March in 2024, thereby being recorded in the first quarter. The only real piece of good news was a strong rebound in the service sector (+0.6%), particularly in the hotel and hospitality sectors.
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
French economy grew 0.3% in Q2, beating forecasts
PARIS - The French economy grew 0.3% in the second quarter, beating forecasts, as a rebound in household spending boosted the euro zone's second-biggest economy, according to official data published on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 0.1% growth for the preliminary Q2 GDP. The growth of 0.3% also showed an improvement from France's Q1 GDP growth of 0.1%. France is facing relatively sluggish economic growth and pressures from its high deficit. Prime Minister Francois Bayrou wants to reduce the budget deficit from 5.4% of GDP this year to 4.6% in 2026, ultimately targeting the EU's 3% fiscal deficit limit by 2029. Finance Minister Eric Lombard told RTL Radio that the preliminary Q2 GDP growth figures were nevertheless "good news". He added they also showed that the French economy was faring relatively well given the pressures from the framework trade tariffs deal between the European Union and the United States. "This 0.3 percent shows we are resisting relatively well, given the situation," said Lombard. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Michael Perry and Andrew Heavens)
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
French economy grew 0.3% in Q2, beating forecasts
By Sudip Kar-Gupta PARIS (Reuters) -The French economy grew 0.3% in the second quarter, beating forecasts, as a rebound in household spending boosted the euro zone's second-biggest economy, according to official data published on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 0.1% growth for the preliminary Q2 GDP. The growth of 0.3% also showed an improvement from France's Q1 GDP growth of 0.1%. France is facing relatively sluggish economic growth and pressures from its high deficit. Prime Minister Francois Bayrou wants to reduce the budget deficit from 5.4% of GDP this year to 4.6% in 2026, ultimately targeting the EU's 3% fiscal deficit limit by 2029. Finance Minister Eric Lombard told RTL Radio that the preliminary Q2 GDP growth figures were nevertheless "good news". He added they also showed that the French economy was faring relatively well given the pressures from the framework trade tariffs deal between the European Union and the United States. "This 0.3 percent shows we are resisting relatively well, given the situation," said Lombard. However, Leverage Shares' senior researcher Sandeep Rao said the fact that the trade deal envisages more EU spending on U.S. military hardware would put pressure on France's plans to curb its own government expenditure. "We expect investors will maintain a relatively neutral outlook on French equities while French OAT government bonds can be expected to remain under pressure going forward," Rao added. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
