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trump: worse than covid.....

Washington under President Donald Trump has created more “uncertainty” than the Covid-19 pandemic, Luis de Guindos, the vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has claimed.

The official made the remarks in an interview with The Sunday Times during which he bemoaned Trump’s use of tariffs, as well as plans to reform corporate taxes and deregulate the financial system. The actions of the new US administration have been causing short-term volatility in markets while making inflation expectations and interest rates hard to predict, he said.

“We need to consider the uncertainty of the current environment, which is even higher than it was during the pandemic,” the ECB vice president said.

“What we’re seeing is that the new US administration isn’t very open to continuing with multilateralism, which is about cooperation across jurisdictions and finding common solutions for common problems. This is a very important change, and a big source of uncertainty,” he added.

Concerns over what Trump might do next have also damaged consumer confidence, de Guindos believes, noting that the long-awaited increase in business investment and household consumption has not arrived. He blamed the decline in Eurozone growth projections on the actions of the new US administration.

“Real wages have increased, inflation is declining, interest rates are coming down and financing conditions are better. But still, the reality is that consumption is not picking up,”he said.

“This is because consumers don’t always react to developments in their short-term real disposable income. They also consider what might happen with the economy over the medium term, which is clouded in uncertainty. The possibility of a trade war or wider geopolitical conflict has an impact on consumer confidence,” the official added, describing trade wars as a “lose-lose situation for everybody.”

Trump’s 25% tariff hike on steel and aluminum supplies from the EU took effect last week after previous exemptions and exclusions expired. Brussels has already vowed to retaliate, promising what it called “swift and proportionate” countermeasures.

The European Commission has condemned Trump’s disruptive and “unjustified” tariffs, pledging to impose counter-tariffs on €26 billion (over $28 billion) worth of US goods starting in April. “Tariffs are taxes, they are bad,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said when announcing the retaliatory measures.

https://www.rt.com/news/614316-trump-covid-uncertainty-ecb/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

the original....

BACK IN 2016....

 

FORWARD TO 2025....:

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reached out to producers in several EU nations to secure additional egg imports amid skyrocketing domestic prices, Reuters reported Friday, citing the Danish egg association.

The request comes despite recent trade tensions between Washington and Brussels over import tariffs imposed by the US administration on various EU goods.

A USDA representative in Europe reportedly sent formal inquiries in late February to several egg-producing countries, including Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.

US wholesale egg prices recently hit an all-time high of $8.41 per dozen, marking a surge of over 200% from the previous year, according to Bloomberg. The price hike is attributed to an accelerating outbreak of bird flu among laying hens, significantly reducing egg supplies.

“We’re still waiting for more guidance from Washington on next steps, but do you have an estimate of the number of eggs that could be supplied to the US (assuming they meet all import requirements),” a follow-up letter to the Danish egg association reviewed by Reuters said, indicating that the White House was trying to estimate feasible import quantities.

A spokesperson for the association told Reuters that they would look into the situation, but emphasized that there was no surplus of eggs in Europe. 

“There is a shortage of eggs everywhere on a global scale, because consumption is increasing, and many are affected by bird flu,” he specified, adding that egg exports to the US could be challenging due to hygiene regulations and other factors.

Danish industry representative Jorgen Nyberg Larsen confirmed in an interview with AgriWatch that Washington had inquired about how much could potentially be supplied, adding that “they have also contacted my colleagues in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland.”

Last week, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the US Justice Department had launched a preliminary investigation into the surge in egg prices across the country. The probe reportedly focuses on whether local suppliers such as Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms had colluded to hike prices or limit supply.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff hike on steel and aluminum imports from the EU took effect, following the expiration of previous exemptions and duty-free quotas. The European Commission responded by announcing counter-tariffs on €26 billion (over $28 billion) worth of US goods, set to begin in April.

https://www.rt.com/business/614267-us-eu-egg-trump-tariffs/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.