Latest news with #Maroš Šefčovič
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A raw deal but the best they could get with Trump: Europe dismayed and relieved at the same time
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union's trade agreement with the Trump administration is getting mixed reviews. EU officials say they warded off a total economic disaster. But French officials in particular say the EU punched below its weight while economists say the deal is dangerously vague. The deal leaves Europe with a 15% tariff on most goods imported into the U.S., with some goods categories tariff-free but no agreement on rates for key areas such as pharmaceuticals and steel. Here is what they're saying: The European Commission Failing to reach a deal by the Aug. 1 deadline would have meant a 30% tariff threatened by Trump, said Maroš Šefčovič, the EU's chief trade negotiator. The chief aim of European officials was a negotiated deal, rather than a tit-for-tat escalation that could have included retaliatory EU tariffs on 93 billion euros ($108 billion) worth of goods including US agricultural goods, steel and chemicals. 'A trade war may seem appealing to some, but it comes with serious consequences, with at least a 30% tariff," said Šefčovič. 'Our transatlantic trade would effectively come to a halt, putting close to 5 million of jobs, including those in SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) in Europe, at grave risk. "Our businesses have sent us a unanimous message: avoid escalation and work towards a solution that delivers immediate relief.' France: 'A dark day' Senior French officials on Monday criticized the accord, with Foreign Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin urging a European response in the services sector, and Strategy Commissioner Clément Beaune warning it underplayed the bloc's economic strength. 'The good news is that there is an agreement — our companies now have visibility and stability in the transatlantic trade relationship,' said Saint-Martin on France Inter radio. 'But this agreement is not balanced, and we will need to keep working." He pointed to digital services as a key front in the trade imbalance. 'Donald Trump spent months saying he wanted to rebalance a trade relationship that disadvantages the United States, but he was only talking about goods. If we look at services, it's the opposite. So it's up to us now to carry out the work of force and rebalancing,' he said. 'The United States decided to use force to impose a new law of the jungle that no longer respects the rules of international trade that we had for decades,' Saint-Martin added. Beaune, France's High Commissioner for Strategy and Planning, said on franceinfo radio: 'This is an unequal and unbalanced agreement.' He warned: 'Europe did not wield its strength. We are the world's leading trading power.' 'When you look at it, the glass is a quarter full and three-quarters empty,' Beaune said. Prime Minister François Bayrou was even more scathing, posting on X: 'It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to uphold their values and defend their interests, resigns itself to submission.' Germany: 'Avoided unnecessary escalation' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the deal would give companies a more predictable environment to plan and invest — a key EU goal after weeks of back-and-forth threats in tense talks with Trump administration officials. 'It is good that Europe and the U.S.A. have agreed and thus avoided an unnecessary escalation in transatlantic trade relations' he said. "We have been able to preserve our core interests, even if I would have very much wished for further relief in transatlantic trade.' Italy: 'Positive outcome' Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has positioned herself as a 'bridge' between the Trump administration and Europe, welcomed news of the tariff agreement as a 'positive' outcome that avoided an 'unpredictable and potentially devastating' trade war. But in comments to reporters on the sidelines of a U.N. food security conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia she said details still needed to be worked out and that she still is unclear what exemptions are carved out for particular industries. 'I always thought, I continue to think that a trade escalation between Europe and the United States would have unpredictable, potentially devastating consequences,' she said. She said she needed to understand what the exemptions might be, including on agricultural products which are of concern to Italy, given its wine exports in particular. 'So there are a number of elements that are missing as well as I don't know exactly what we are referring to when we talk about investments, gas purchases." She noted that the deal in its current form is legally non-binding in principle, 'so there is still, let's say, room to fight.' Hungary: Trump 'ate EU for breakfast' Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of President Donald Trump who has gained a following within the MAGA movement, blasted the agreement on Monday as a failure on the part of Europe's leadership. 'Even at first glance, it is obvious to me that this is not an agreement,' Orbán said in a video discussion with his party's spokesman. 'Donald Trump ate (European Commission President) Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast, that's what happened.' Orbán, a frequent critic of the European Union, has been careful not to criticize Trump's administration for its trade policy, instead faulting the EU for being unable to conclude a comprehensive tariff agreement with Washington. Orbán said a trade deal between the US and the UK which imposed a blanket 10% tariff on U.K. exports, was more favorable than that concluded with the EU. 'The American president is a heavyweight negotiator, and (von der Leyen) is a featherweight,' Orbán said. 'The European agreement is worse than the British one, so portraying it as a success will be difficult.' Economists: Less growth, many blank spots Jon Harrison at TS Lombard: 'It is no surprise to find that trade deals agreed under duress in weeks rather than the usual years of careful negotiation leave a mass of detail incomplete and open to interpretation.' Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics: 'We think this will reduce EU GDP by about 0.5%, which is worse than we had previously assumed.' 'While the deal has avoided a much worse outcome for now, it remains to be seen whether it will last.' Julian Hinz, trade expert at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy: 'The deal agreed yesterday is not a good deal — it is appeasement. "While the EU may avert a trade war in the short term, it is paying a high price in the long term by abandoning the principles of the multilateral, rules-based world trade system of the World Trade Organization." —- McNeil contributed from Brussels, Adamson from Paris, and Winfield from Rome. Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, also contributed. David Mchugh, Sam Mcneil, Thomas Adamson And Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
European stocks to surge amid hopes for EU-US trade deal
European stocks were on track to surge at the start of trading amid hopes for an EU-US trade deal. France's Cac 40 was up 1.6pc in premarket trading while Germany's Dax gained 1.3pc after reports an agreement would result in a 15pc tariff on most products, similar to the deal with Japan. This would avoid a 30pc tariff threatened by Donald Trump in a letter to the European Union earlier this month. EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Automotive
- The Guardian
EU prepares €100bn no-deal plan to match Trump's threat of 30% tariffs
The EU has threatened to impose nearly €100bn (£87bn) worth of tariffs on US imports ranging from bourbon whiskey and Boeing aircraft in one fell swoop if Donald Trump does not agree a trade deal by the end of next week. The European Commission said on Wednesday it now planned to combine two previously prepared separate lists of US goods to be included in any retaliatory moves against the US president's import tariffs. If Brussels follows through on the threat, it would mean tariffs on US imports to the EU including poultry and alcohol in the first €21bn list, as well as the more recent list of €72bn of goods, which featured cars and planes. If agreed by EU member states, through a vote expected in the coming days, the €93bn of counter-tariffs could be imposed from 7 August. 'The EU's primary focus is on achieving a negotiated outcome with the US,' said Olof Gill, a trade spokesperson for the European Commission,adding that it would 'continue in parallel to prepare for all outcomes'. To make countermeasures 'clearer, simpler and stronger we will merge lists 1 and 2 into a single list', he said. The EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, was due to talk to the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, before a briefing to EU ambassadors on Wednesday afternoon. Diplomats say the mood is hardening in Brussels towards Trump after the US president rejected an agreement in principle 10 days ago while at the same time upping the ante by threatening 30% blanket tariffs from 1 August in the event of no deal. Germany, which has publicly pushed for a quick deal to end the crippling 27.5% tariffs on its car industry, is now favouring the use of the anti-coercion instrument (ACI), an EU regulation considered its 'nuclear deterrent' against economic coercion. The ACI would enable the EU to retaliate with an arsenal of measures including tariffs, but also a potential ban on US services, which would hit the tech sector hard. The European car industry has been particularly impacted by the tariffs. Stellantis, the owner of Jeep and Vauxhall, this week said Trump's tariffs have cost it €300m and Volvo reported a sharp decline in second-quarter operation. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has long argued that the EU needs to be prepared to retaliate and counter Trump's threats in a tougher fashion. Both Germany and France spoke about the ACI at a meeting of ambassadors last Friday. 'It was certainly a shift in rhetoric, but it is not clear whether they would be advocating pressing the actual button,' said one diplomat in Brussels. Tobias Gehrke, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations thinktank, said the EU had missed an opportunity by not warning that it would use the ACI after a trade ministers summit early last week, two days after Trump sent the EU a letter threatening 30% tariffs. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion 'There is a sense that the bloc has fumbled its hand, despite holding decent cards,' he said. 'The EU should have immediately retaliated against US tariffs. While the mantra 'negotiate from a position of strength' was oft-repeated in speeches, any associated actions never materialised,' he added. He argues the only move to break the impasse is a face to face meeting between Merz, Macron and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Trump, who is in Scotland this weekend. The latest EU move comes ahead of a summit with China on Thursday between European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU council, Antonio Costa, and China's president Xi Jinping. China maintains a dominant position in the trade relationship – its trade surplus for the first six months of 2025 stood at €143bn, up 20% year on year, with exports of hybrid electrical cars tripling from January to May. These do not attract the punitive tariffs introduced in 2023 by the EU. Electric car imports dropped 32% for the same period. At the same time, China's restriction on rare earths is hitting the German car industry which needs magnets for window and boot opening mechanisms.
