Prime minister says tariffs will be ‘a challenge’ but UK is better placed with 10% rate than EU at 20%
Keir Starmer has told heads of business in Downing Street that “clearly there will be an economic impact” from US tariffs but that ministers would respond with “cool and calm heads”.
The prime minister gathered senior business figures in No 10 after Donald Trump announced he would introduce 10% blanket tariffs on imports from the UK, and 25% on car imports.
Continue reading...Britain gets off comparatively lightly but US president’s action could still cost billions in lost growth
Donald Trump has hit the UK with tariffs of 10% on exports to the US as he ignited a global trade war that could wipe billions off economic growth.
The US president accused other nations, including allies, of “looting, pillaging, raping and plundering” the US, as he announced tariffs on economic rivals including 20% on the EU and 34% on China as part of what he dubbed “liberation day”.
Continue reading...French president tells ministers that judges are independent and ‘all litigants have the right of appeal’
Emmanuel Macron has said the French judiciary is independent and must be protected as a judge was put under police guard after sentencing Marine Le Pen to an immediate ban from running for office.
Speaking on Wednesday, two days after the far-right leader’s conviction for the embezzlement of European parliament funds, the French president told ministers that “judges must be protected” and that “all litigants have the right to appeal.”
Continue reading...Bloc’s options include retaliating with tariffs on US goods and services and forming closer ties with other countries
Donald Trump is getting ready to impose sweeping and immediate tariffs on all foreign goods, thereby unleashing a trade war and upending the multilateral trading system that the US helped to build after the second world war.
Here is how Europe might respond:
Continue reading...Survey shows between 56% and 79% across seven countries in favour if Trump introduces ‘Liberation Day’ levies
A large majority of western Europeans support retaliatory tariffs against the US, a survey has suggested, if Donald Trump introduces sweeping import duties for major trading partners as expected this week.
The US president appears likely to unleash a range of tariffs, varying from country to country, on Wednesday, which he has called Liberation Day. He also said last week that a 25% levy on cars shipped to the US would come into force the next day.
Continue reading...Far-right leader, who was found guilty of embezzlement of European funds, says conviction is a ‘denial of democracy’
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has railed against a Paris court’s “political decision” to bar her from competing for the presidency in 2027, attacking the move to ban her from running for public office as “a denial of democracy”.
In a day of high political drama, Le Pen was found guilty of embezzlement of European parliament funds on a vast scale, a conviction for which she was also handed a four-year prison sentence, with two of those years suspended and two to be served outside jail with an electronic bracelet. She was also ordered to pay a €100,000 (£84,000) fine.
Continue reading...Officials in France and Belgium hit out at ‘American interference’ amid growing transatlantic tensions
Officials in France and Belgium have hit back at American efforts to impose Donald Trump’s rollback of diversity measures on Europe, which in the US has seen Disney put under investigation.
Several companies across the EU have in recent days reportedly received letters informing them that the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives also applies to firms around the world looking to do business with the US government.
Continue reading...PM told to be as robust as Canada with the US president as the UK stages last-ditch talks to strike trade deal
Keir Starmer should fight back strongly against Donald Trump if he imposes punitive tariffs on British exports, senior UK and EU diplomats said on Saturday night, amid heightened fears that the US president could trigger a global trade war with devastating effects on the UK economy.
British government officials in London and Washington are working frantically this weekend to try to persuade Trump not to slap duties on more key UK industries on what he is calling “liberation day” on Wednesday. The US president has already announced plans for 25% levies on imports of cars, steel and aluminium to the US.
Continue reading...Giorgia Meloni says it is her responsibility to defend transatlantic unity in face of looming US levies
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has called for a “reasoned” approach to an escalating tariff war between the EU and the US and repeated the importance of transatlantic unity.
The US president, Donald Trump, has announced sweeping tariffs on his country’s allies and adversaries, including a 25% levy on car imports starting next week, and a 200% tariff on champagne, wine and other alcoholic drinks from the EU.
Continue reading...‘This is not how you talk to your close allies,’ says Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Denmark has hit back against JD Vance’s comments that Copenhagen has not done enough for Greenland.
The US vice-president made his remark on Friday during a trip to the Pituffik space base in north-western Greenland, viewed by both Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation.
Continue reading...Canadian PM says Donald Trump has permanently altered relations, as countries around the globe insist import taxes are harmful to all, including Washington
Canada’s prime minister has said the era of deep ties with the US “is over”, as governments from Tokyo to Berlin to Paris sharply criticised Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on car imports, with some threatening retaliatory action.
Mark Carney warned Canadians that Trump had permanently altered relations and that, regardless of any future trade deals, there would be “no turning back”.
Continue reading...Bloc’s first preparedness strategy urges people to prepare for floods, fires, pandemics or military strikes
People in the EU are being advised to stockpile enough food, water and essentials for 72 hours as part of a European strategy that aims to increase readiness for catastrophic floods and fires, pandemics and military attacks.
Outlining its first preparedness strategy, the European Commission said it wanted to encourage citizens to take “proactive measures to prepare for crises, such as developing household emergency plans and stockpiling essential supplies”.
Continue reading...Tech companies could be fined billions if EU finds they have breached the Digital Markets Act
The European Commission has accused the US tech companies Google and Apple of breaking its digital rules, in a landmark action that could escalate transatlantic tension with Donald Trump.
The US president has sought to exert pressure on the EU to back away from tougher regulation of American technology groups, warning that he could retaliate by imposing tariffs on foreign companies.
Continue reading...EU launches scheme to buy more weapons in Europe as Russia remains ‘a threat for the foreseeable future’
Europe needs to be able to deter potential invaders by 2030, the EU executive has said as it launched a push to buy more weapons in the bloc and from allied countries, rather than from the US.
The UK, US and Turkey will be excluded from defence contracts funded by a €150bn (£125bn) EU loans programme, unless they sign a security and defence partnership agreement with the EU.
Continue reading...Kaja Kallas says the bloc cannot automatically fill the gap left by the US
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, expressed disappointment over US funding cuts to Radio Free Europe and said the EU could not automatically fill the gap.
The US Agency for Global Media stopped grants over the weekend to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which was founded during the cold war and broadcasts to 23 countries, including Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Iran and Afghanistan.
Continue reading...Civil liberties report warns that Italy along with Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia intentionally undermining rule of law ‘in nearly all aspects’
Italy’s government has profoundly undermined the rule of law with changes to the judiciary and showed “heavy intolerance to media criticism”, in an emblematic example of Europe’s deepening “democratic recession”, a coalition of civil liberties groups has said.
A report by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) said Italy was one of five “dismantlers” – along with Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia – that “intentionally undermine the rule of law in nearly all aspects”.
Continue reading...Authorities in capital make apparent attempt to disrupt demonstration by cancelling public transport
Tens of thousands of people from across Serbia joined an anti-corruption rally in Belgrade on Saturday, in what is regarded as the culmination of months of protest that have shaken the grip of the country’s autocratic president, Aleksandar Vučić.
The sound of whistles and vuvuzelas echoed throughout the Serbian capital, which has been on high alert since the rally was announced.
Continue reading...Homes searched in inquiry into alleged corruption at European parliament relating to Chinese technology giant
Several people have been arrested and homes searched as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption at the European parliament relating to the Chinese technology giant Huawei, Belgian prosecutors have said.
The investigating judge in charge of the case has asked for seals to be fixed to the offices of two European parliament assistants alleged to be involved.
Continue reading...US president claims Dublin ‘took’ pharma industry as he holds White House press conference with Micheál Martin
Donald Trump has accused Ireland of stealing the US pharmaceutical industry and the tax revenue that should have been paid to the US treasury, in a blow to the Irish premier, Micheál Martin, who had hoped to emerge unscathed from a visit to the White House marking St Patrick’s Day.
The US president showed grudging respect for Martin, alternately ribbing and complimenting him, while also launching several broadsides against the EU.
Continue reading...Over 11 days of breakneck diplomacy, Kyiv was convinced of need to pacify Trump, but reconciliation may be all too brief
The 11 days of whiplash-inducing talks British and French officials endured to repair shattered relations between Washington and Kyiv, and for the first time put Donald Trump’s trust in Vladimir Putin to the test, could go down as one of the great feats of diplomatic escapology.
The dogged fence-mending may yet unravel as hurdles remain, principally the outstanding question of Ukraine’s security guarantees, but for the first time, in the words of Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, the ball is in Russia’s court. Putin, by instinct cautious, has preferred watching from the sidelines, suppressing his delight as Trump denounced Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his face in the White House and wreaked subsequent vengeance by stopping all military aid and then pulling some US intelligence.
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