Mōrena and welcome to the end of another working week and your summary of Friday’s international business and political news.
First up, US President Donald Trump suggested that he would not go below 15% with trade tariffs ahead of the August 1 deadline, an indication that the base rate was rising, Bloomberg reported.
In April, Trump promised a blanket tariff of 10% on nearly every country. Earlier this week, he announced a lower tariff on Japan in exchange for the country removing restrictions on some US products.
“We’ll have a straight, simple tariff of anywhere between 15% and 50%,” Trump said.
“A couple … we have 50 because we haven’t been getting along with those countries too well.”
Bloomberg said it was the latest twist as Trump looked to aggressively put levies on exports from countries outside the group that had already struck trade frameworks.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a free trade deal with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which would benefit UK vehicles, whisky, Indian textiles and jewellery, the BBC reported.
The deal took three years to complete and included a commitment to tackle illegal immigration.
Critics warned the deal could undercut British workers because of extended social security terms. UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that was wrong and Indian workers on temporary secondment to the UK would get the same deal already offered to many other countries, the BBC said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the bloc’s trade relationship with China to be more balanced, CNBC reported.
Von der Leyen pointed to the EU’s growing trade deficit with China. “Europe welcomes competition, we like competition, but competition has to be fair,” she said.
There were three key areas the EU had flagged with Chinese officials, including overcapacity. “We need to see progress on this issue because without progress, it would be very difficult for the European Union to maintain its current level of openness.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping said the bilateral relationship was mutually beneficial amid rising global geopolitical tension.
“The more severe and complex the international situation is, the more China and the EU should strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation,” Xi told the EU leaders, CNBC said.
In the Middle East, Israeli army officials said it targeted southern Lebanon with air strikes, claiming it hit multiple Hezbollah-linked sites, Al Jazeera reported.
Fighter jets reportedly hit military sites and weapons storage facilities.
Earlier, one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the southern Lebanon. So far, Israel has launched near-daily attacks on Lebanon despite agreeing to a US-backed ceasefire last November.
Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said the Trump administration decided to bring its negotiating team home from Qatar after Hamas’ latest response to a ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
Witkoff said the Palestinian group’s position showed a “lack of desire” to reach a ceasefire agreement, Al Jazeera reported.
“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith. We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”
The White House pushed back against reports that Trump's name appeared in documents relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's name appeared multiple times in records held by the Justice Department, the BBC reported.
But a White House spokesperson called the claims "a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media". Being named in the documents was not evidence of criminal activity. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Trump is set to visit the Federal Reserve, amid growing political pressure on chair Jerome Powell, the BBC reported.
Trump will tour buildings undergoing a US$2.5 billion renovation, which the White House said Powell had mismanaged.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
Finally, EV manufacturer Tesla suffered a blow in the June quarter, with a double-digit drop in adjusted earnings, CNN reported.
Adjusted net income, a measure followed by Wall Street, fell US$419 million from a year ago to US$1.4b. Sales also fell 13.5%. Net income fell 16% to US$1.2b.
Tesla also charged about US$500 less on each car sold in the quarter, with revenue per vehicle dropping to US$42,231. Sales of its Model Y and Model 3 fell 12% compared to last year.
