EU and US to restart trade talks as sticking points on July tariff deal remain
The EU and US are set to restart trade negotiations next week after a two-month pause to try to settle unresolved sticking points in their controversial tariff deal struck in July.The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, and trade representative Jamieson Greer will hold high-level meetings in Brussels on Monday with ministers, EU commissioners and industry bosses.The face-to-face meetings are the first talks since the six-week US government shutdown that began at the start of October.In a high-risk move, Lutnick and Greer have been invited to lunch with 27 trade ministers who are gathering for a summit on Monday.One insider said: “We need to keep it focused, what we don’t want is individual countries going up to them and demanding deals on this, this and that.
”Brussels struck a deal with Donald Trump at his golf course in Scotland in July to avert his threat of 50% tariffs, instead agreeing a baseline 15% levy on most EU imports into the US.Now Washington officials have made it clear they are frustrated with the EU’s slow pace of implementation on that deal, which is not legally binding and needs to be passed by parliament, a process that could take until February.Among the significant outstanding problems expected to be discussed at Monday’s talks are the continuing 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium, separate tariffs on products with steel elements, and food and drink levies.Several member states want to see the removal of the 15% tax on wine and spirits including France, which has been hit by duties on Cognac, Ireland on whiskey and all the wine-producing countries.Before a dinner on Monday night Lutnick and Greer will hold talks with the EU’s trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, its defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, and the commissioner responsible for technology, Henna Virkkunen, to discuss the continuing crisis involving chip supply from China.
They will also meet industry bosses at a business round table expected to included the heads of Volkswagen and the French company TotalEnergies, said insiders.Persuading the US that the steel derivatives go entirely against spirit of the deal struck in July was a “top priority” said one EU insider.In September, the US listed 407 products that included an element of steel, ranging from knitting needles to wind turbines and washing machines, that would face separate tariffs.And now, as part of a rolling programme to protect its industries, it is looking at adding a further 700 products including tin cans and bicycles.Companies such as the German agriculture machinery firm Krone, have said the “hidden” tariffs are alarming and causing a nightmare for exporters with US customs officials charging 200% in tariffs to anyone who has failed to complete a mountain of paperwork citing the origin of all steel from the “suppliers” and the “supplier to the supplier to the supplier”.
The EU and US will also discuss the prospect of working in alignment to “ringfence” their domestic steel industries to protect against cheaper Chinese imports.Brussels hopes that steel anti-dumping proposals announced in October, which match Trump’s steel tariffs, will persuade the US president to slash the 50% tariffs on EU steel.
England 27-23 Argentina: Autumn Nations Series rugby union – as it happened
England held on and Rob Kitson was there to see it.Thanks everyone for joining me. As I sign off can I steer you towards Rob’s piece.Thanks to you all for being with us across the autumn. What a feast of rugby it was!Til next time…It’s a shame we won’t get the showdown we all want
England edge over line for autumn clean sweep but Argentina fume over Curry scuffle
Up on the scoreboard England have ended their autumn firmly in credit. A first four-Test autumn clean sweep at Twickenham since 2016, a total of 17 tries scored and a winning run that now stretches to 11 Tests. By the time the 2026 Six Nations comes around those will be the primary facts when Steve Borthwick’s team regather with the aim of pushing further onwards and upwards.Their final game of the year, though, was a curate’s egg with a distinctly sour aftertaste. An angry Felipe Contepomi, the Pumas’ head coach, alleged afterwards he had been shoved and sworn at by Tom Curry in a post-match scuffle in the tunnel and complained the Sale flanker had been guilty of a “reckless” tackle that led to his full-back Juan Cruz Mallía suffering a serious knee injury and reduced Argentina to 14 men late on
Dire not fire: England’s Ashes confidence seems misplaced after two days | Geoff Lemon
As an Australian, even one lacking in cricket parochialism, it’s flat to sit around the Perth CBD city centre on what should have been the third day of the opening Ashes Test but isn’t. In the same way that this city of heatwaves is now being combed by chilly winds and rain, the whole thing just feels wrong. Through years of buildup, the current England team has raised the possibility of being different to those that came before. For anyone who believed it, even a little, it seems as if we all got hoodwinked.In my cricket watching lifetime, English visits have been a procession of the abject
England must avoid Perth 2025 becoming the new Adelaide 2006 | Ali Martin
Stuart Broad was a highly meme-able cricketer and it turns out that talent now extends into commentary. As Joe Root chopped Mitchell Starc on to his stumps during England’s subsidence on Saturday afternoon, Broad summed up the mood of a nation without uttering so much as a word.In a clip that has since gone viral, Broad is in the Channel 7 box with his eyes shut, arms folded, letting out an exasperated sigh; the kind of internal “FFS” triggered by a toddler doing the very thing they were just warned against. Watching from the far end as two teammates fall to expansive drives on a bouncy, nippy surface, only to attempt a repeat against Starc, is a bit like pulling on the cat’s tail. Root did it anyway
Confident McCullum ‘planning how to bounce back’ after England’s Ashes flop
Brendon McCullum has called on England fans rocked by the team’s calamitous two-day defeat by Australia in the first Ashes Test to “keep the faith”, insisting the team’s only chance of turning the series around was to double down on their methods. “You’ve got to block out the doubts and the insecurities that can creep in,” said the head coach, “because if that does happen then you literally have no chance.”The speed at which the game unravelled has left the team with some unexpected time off – though a few of those who were not required at Perth Stadium spent their Sunday playing for the Lions against an Australia XI at Lilac Hill – with management now deciding whether the best preparation for the second Test, which starts in Brisbane on 4 December, will involve sending some squad members to play in the Lions’ next fixture, a day-nighter against a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, or taking the entire group away for some team bonding. “We’ve got to work out whether that extra cricket is the key, or making sure that camaraderie is tight and morale doesn’t drop,” McCullum said. “We’ve just got to work out what the pros and cons of all that are
McLaren apologise to Norris, Piastri and fans for Las Vegas Grand Prix disqualification
McLaren have held their hands up and issued an apology to their drivers after their breach of Formula One regulations led to the disqualification of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the two leading title contenders, from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and put the F1 drivers’ championship within the grasp of the reigning champion, Max Verstappen.The race was won by the Red Bull driver but Norris took a strong second and Piastri fourth. However, four hours after the race and following an investigation by the FIA, both were disqualified after the skid blocks on the floor of their cars were found to have been worn down below the 9mm limit defined in the rules.“We apologise to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today, at a critical time in their championship campaigns after two strong performances from them all weekend,” said McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella. “As a team, we also apologise to our partners and fans, whose support means so much
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