Trump's USA Trump's tariff policy

Trump: "50/50 that there will be a trade agreement with the EU"

Donald Trump says there is a 50 percent chance that the US will reach a trade agreement with the EU, Reuters reports.

He told reporters as he left the White House on Friday for a trip to Scotland.

According to European officials, an agreement can be reached over the weekend, the news agency writes

Volkswagen wants to invest in the US in exchange for lower tariffs

Volkswagen expects that the tariff rates between the EU and the US will come down to more "manageable levels", which in that case means relief for the vehicle manufacturer. Bloomberg writes. In the first half of the year, the tariff slaps are estimated to have cost the company 1.3 billion euros, around 14.5 billion kronor.

CEO Oliver Blume believes that tariffs on vehicles will end up around 15 percent, almost halving from current levels. At the same time, Volkswagen itself is trying to negotiate a deal with the US, including by offering large investments in the country.

“But we need a good compromise,” says CFO Arno Antlitz to Bloomberg. 

Sources: Japan and US disagree on agreement – cracks are growing

Fractions have emerged in the interpretation of the new trade agreement between the US and Japan, writes the Financial Times, referring to sources within the Japanese government.

According to Washington, the US will receive 90 percent of the profits from joint investments. Donald Trump claimed after the agreement that Japan gave the US $ 550 billion in signing bonuses.

But Tokyo believes that the distribution should be based on risk and effort, and not a fixed percentage. Japanese officials also say that no binding agreement exists.

How it ends is unclear.

- Japan has played a card game with Trump and the reality is that Trump has a better hand with more jokers than he can play, says David Boling, head of Asian trade at Eurasia Group, to the FT.