2025-07-30 12:55
WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India starting on Aug. 1. He said India, which has the world's fifth largest economy, will also face an unspecified penalty on Aug. 1, but did not elaborate on the amount or what it was for. Sign up here. "While India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!" India's commerce ministry, which is leading the trade negotiations with the United States, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump's decision dashes hopes of a limited trade agreement between the two countries, which had been under negotiation for several months. U.S. and Indian trade negotiators had held multiple rounds of discussions to resolve contentious issues, particularly over market access for American agricultural and dairy products. Despite progress in some areas, Indian officials resisted opening the domestic market to imports of wheat, corn, rice and genetically modified soybeans, citing risks to the livelihood of millions of Indian farmers. The new tariffs are expected to impact India’s goods exports to the U.S., estimated at around $87 billion in 2024, including labour-intensive products such as garments, pharmaceuticals, gems and jeweler, and petrochemicals. The United States currently has a $45.7 billion trade deficit with India. India now joins a growing list of countries facing higher tariffs under Trump’s "Liberation Day" trade policy, aimed at reshaping U.S. trade relations by demanding greater reciprocity. The White House had previously warned India about its high average applied tariffs — nearly 39% on agricultural products, with rates climbing to 45% on vegetable oils and around 50% on apples and corn. The setback comes despite earlier commitments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump to conclude the first phase of a trade deal by autumn 2025 and expand bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, up from $191 billion in 2024. U.S. manufacturing exports to India, valued at around $42 billion in 2024, as well as energy exports such as liquefied natural gas, crude oil, and coal, could also face retaliatory action if India chooses to respond in kind. Indian officials have previously indicated that they view the U.S. as a key strategic partner, particularly in counterbalancing China. But they have emphasized the need to preserve policy space on agriculture, data governance, and state subsidies. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/trump-says-us-impose-25-tariff-india-aug-1-2025-07-30/
2025-07-30 12:51
WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday again called on the Federal Reserve to lower benchmark rates after data showed U.S. economic growth rebounded more than expected in the second quarter. "2Q GDP JUST OUT: 3%, WAY BETTER THAN EXPECTED! “Too Late” MUST NOW LOWER THE RATE. No Inflation! Let people buy, and refinance, their homes!" Trump wrote on Truth Social as the central bank prepared to release its policy statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-pushes-rate-cut-fed-meets-second-quarter-data-released-2025-07-30/
2025-07-30 12:43
MOSCOW, July 30 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it was concerned about the threat of new strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, and that a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme could be reached through dialogue. Israel and the United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June with the stated aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any such intention. Sign up here. "Regular threats towards Iran to launch new missile and bomb strikes on its nuclear facilities cannot but cause serious concern. The cynicism of such statements is added by the fact that they are made under the guise of imaginary concern for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters. "Bombing nuclear facilities should not become commonplace, routine international practice. The catastrophic risks associated with this cannot be ignored, much less justified." Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war in Ukraine, and this year signed a strategic partnership treaty with the Islamic Republic. Zakharova said a sustainable peace settlement and a promise not to conduct new strikes on Iran were prerequisites for normalising cooperation between Tehran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-says-its-worried-about-threat-new-strikes-iranian-nuclear-facilities-2025-07-30/
2025-07-30 12:42
ANKARA, July 30 (Reuters) - Turkey will start providing Syria with natural gas from August 2, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told state-owned Anadolu news agency on Wednesday, adding Azerbaijan would also be involved in the exports running through Turkey's Kilis province. Ankara, which supported rebel forces in neighbouring Syria throughout the 13-year civil war that ended in December with the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, has become one of the new Syrian government's main foreign allies while positioning itself to be a major player in Syria's reconstruction. Sign up here. Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir provided further details on the supply in a statement released by his ministry: "Starting August 2, Syria will begin receiving 3.4 million cubic metres of gas from Azerbaijan to Aleppo Governorate via Turkey," Bashir said. He said this would contribute to generating some 900 megawatts of electricity and help enhance the stability of the electricity grid in Syria. During a visit to Damascus in May, Bayraktar had said Turkey would provide Syria with 2 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually, in addition to 1,000 megawatts of electricity. He had said this month that Azerbaijan's SOCAR may be a partner in the project as well. On Wednesday, he said the natural gas provision would help Syria address its electricity needs as well, adding this would be used as fuel in electricity production at Syria's existing power plants. "We made a swap agreement with Azerbaijan, and the gas that will come from Azerbaijan will be exported to Aleppo, Syria, via Kilis," he said, adding Qatar would also be involved in terms of financing, and that ministers from the three countries would mark the start of the gas flow in a ceremony on Saturday. "With the 6 million cubic metres of gas that we are planning to send there, we will be able to realise 1,200 megawatts of electricity production," he added. Bayraktar said Ankara would also be supplementing that with 500 megawatts of its own to help address Syria's energy issues. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/turkey-start-providing-syria-with-natural-gas-august-2-minister-says-2025-07-30/
2025-07-30 12:42
SAN FRANCISCO, July 30 (Reuters) - Helion Energy, a startup backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman and SoftBank's venture capital arm, has started construction on a site for a planned nuclear fusion power plant that will supply power to Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab data centers by 2028, the company said on Wednesday. The site in Malaga, Washington, is in the center of the state along the Columbia River, where Helion hopes to take advantage of grid infrastructure in place for the nearby Rock Island Dam hydroelectric plant. Sign up here. The startup still has to secure final permits from Washington's government but said the work puts it on track to sell power to Microsoft under a deal it struck in 2023. Fusion generates electricity by ramming atoms into each other, releasing energy without emitting significant greenhouse gases or creating large amounts of long-lasting radioactive waste. But despite billions of dollars of investment, scientists and engineers still have not figured out a way to reliably generate more energy with fusion than it takes to create and sustain the reaction. Helion is still working on how to do that with its current prototype, called Polaris, which is housed in Everett, Washington, where it plans to build components for the machine to be built at Malaga, called Orion. Orion will connect to Washington's primary power delivery networks, David Kirtley, Helion’s co-founder and CEO, told Reuters. "We'll actually be able to connect to the exact same grid just upstream of the Microsoft data centers," Kirtley said. Microsoft has for years said that nuclear energy should be part of a mix of carbon-free energy sources and has also signed power purchase agreements for conventional fission-based nuclear power. Fusion is a longer-term bet, said Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft's chief sustainability officer. "Over the last three, four years, you've been seeing from across the fusion space different types of milestones being met by other companies and peers, Helion included," Nakagawa told Reuters. "There's a lot of optimism that this could be the moment that fusion actually comes forward within this decade, or near in this decade." https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/helion-energy-starts-construction-nuclear-fusion-plant-power-microsoft-data-2025-07-30/
2025-07-30 12:36
Trump vows sanctions unless Russia makes progress on peace deal U.S. also warns China over Russian oil China unlikely to comply with U.S. sanctions, analysts say LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Wednesday as investors awaited developments on U.S. President Donald Trump's tighter deadline for Russia to end the war in Ukraine and his tariff threats to countries that trade its oil. The most active Brent crude futures were down 5 cents or about 0.1%, at $71.63 a barrel by 1226 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 5 cents to $69.61. Sign up here. The Brent crude September contract that expires on Wednesday was steady at $72.50. Both contracts had fallen nearly 1% earlier in the day. "Events in the last few days have moved the needle a touch more, but we still appear to be somewhat rangebound and testing the next resistance level," said Rystad Energy analyst Janiv Shah. Trump had said on Tuesday that he would start imposing measures on Russia, such as secondary tariffs of 100% on trading partners, if it did not make progress on ending the war within 10 to 12 days, moving up from an earlier 50-day deadline. The United States also warned China, the largest buyer of Russian oil, that it could face huge tariffs if it kept buying, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a news conference in Stockholm. JP Morgan analysts wrote that while China was unlikely to comply with U.S. sanctions, India has signalled it would do so, which could affect 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil exports. "Oil prices reacted strongly yesterday, so there is some profit booking," said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo, adding that data from the American Petroleum Institute from Tuesday was also bearish for crude. "Market participants are also taking into account that low prices and secondary sanctions/tariffs on Russia won’t work at the same time." U.S. crude and distillate stocks rose last week while gasoline inventories fell, market sources said, citing API data. "Depending on the outcome of the U.S.-Russia discussions, tariff implementation and the OPEC+ meeting and announcement on unwinding (of output cuts), the market could see some movement," Rystad's Shah added. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-steadies-market-weighs-up-supply-risks-2025-07-30/
