The European Parliament approved a deal to remove EU import duties and ease access for US goods, averting further tariff conflicts and setting tariffs on EU imports to the US.
The Trump administration has proposed tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from China and 59 other economies, citing their failure to ban goods made with forced labor. Trading partners, including China and the EU, have criticized the move as political manipulation and absurd.
EU lawmakers and member states have reached an agreement to implement a trade pact with the US, following threats of new tariffs from President Donald Trump if the deal wasn't finalized by July 4. The accord aims to create stable and balanced transatlantic trade.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer called for stability with Beijing days before US President Donald Trump’s closely watched trip to China, saying the US was not out to reshape the Chinese economy but to rebalance trade. The trade chief told Fox News on Friday that while the world’s two largest economies “always had a really robust trading relationship … it’s been wildly unbalanced with China exporting just vast amounts of goods to the United States and largely blocking a lot of US imports...
Letter writer responds to Nils Pratley's column on North Sea gas, arguing that expansion cannot be justified when climate and nature risks are considered. Citing Uplift analysis showing 14 years of new licensing delivered only one month's gas demand, the author warns that further expansion poses systemic risks to food security, economic stability and national security.
Chris Huhne responds to Nils Pratley's article on UK gas policy, arguing that biomethane represents a third overlooked option between expanding North Sea drilling and increasing LNG imports. He highlights that biomethane is domestic, low carbon, storable and dispatchable, citing the IEA's 2025 Renewables report and examples from Denmark (meeting 40% of gas demand from green gas) and France (20%+ annual growth since 2022). The letter argues the UK lacks political will to scale these alternatives.
