Aurelia Butler

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany is set to abstain in Monday’s vote by European Union member states on imposing provisional tariffs on China-made electric vehicles, sources told Reuters on Friday, in the first test of support for Brussels’ landmark trade case.The provisional tariffs of up to 37.6% on EVs imported from China do not require the member states’ support, but the final tariffs could be blocked if a qualified majority of the EU’s 27 members is opposed. An abstention in this first stage effectively means backing the Commission as it continues negotiations with Beijing over the EU’s largest trade case yet.The EU’s largest economy will abstain because the anti-subsidy investigation continues and negotiations between the EU Commission and the Chinese government are ongoing, the sources said. They declined to be named because the decision is confidential.Germany will abstain in the spirit of “critical solidarity” with the EU Commission, one of the sources said. German carmakers which made a third of their sales last year in China, oppose the tariffs. They worry about retaliation measures and fear a trade conflict with the country’s second most important trading partner.France has been among the firmest backers of the case, while Hungary has condemned it. Other members have wavered about how to vote, the first official test of support for the Commission’s tariff move. The EU initiated the probe without an industry complaint, the first such trade case of this kind.Asked late on Friday about the planned abstention, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany expected the EU executive would succeed in reaching an agreement with China on EVs, and that an agreement would be good for Europe’s car industry.He declined to confirm how the country would vote.”These are globally competitive vehicles that have nothing to fear from competition,” he told journalists after a meeting with Japan’s premier. “But we must always make sure the conditions are fair on all sides.” FIRST TESTThis first vote which is made in writing and confidential is not binding. At the provisional stage, the Commission has full power to impose duties, although it consults EU members and is supposed to take their positions into account. This will be followed by a final vote at the end of the investigation, when the Commission can propose definitive duties, normally applying for five years.The Commission says duties are needed to counter cheap loans, land and raw materials and other subsidies and the goal is a level playing field, not shutting Chinese car makers out, as the United States’ planned 100% tariff is likely to do.Its proposal could be blocked if a qualified majority of the European Union’s 27 members is opposed. A qualified majority needs 15 EU members representing 65% of the EU population to be in favour. More

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York jury on Friday began deliberating in the corruption trial of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who stands accused of selling his power in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes including gold bars and cash.Federal prosecutors in Manhattan argued the New Jersey Democrat sought to help Egypt secure billions of dollars in U.S. military assistance to help a businessman with ties to that country’s government. Prosecutors say the senator also tried to influence criminal investigations touching two other businessmen who bribed him. Menendez, 70, has pleaded not guilty to 16 criminal counts including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction. Defense attorneys argued his advocacy for businessmen in his state was normal activity for a senator, and sought to blame his wife Nadine Menendez, who prosecutors say was a go-between for bribes.Regardless of the jury’s verdict, the case has likely ended the three-term senator’s political career. Menendez stepped down as chair of the Senate’s influential foreign relations committee upon being charged in September, but has resisted calls from fellow Democrats to resign.He is running as an independent for re-election to his seat in November, but is considered a long shot. Over nine weeks in Manhattan federal court, jurors handled the gold bars federal agents seized from the New Jersey home the senator shared with Nadine. They heard testimony from insurance broker Jose Uribe, who said he bought Nadine Menendez a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz (OTC:MBGAF) for her husband’s help quashing a criminal probe into his associates. And an FBI agent told jurors she heard Nadine ask Egyptian officials at a steakhouse dinner, “What else can the love of my life do for you?” “It wasn’t enough for him to be one of the most powerful people in Washington,” prosecutor Paul Monteleoni said in his closing argument on Monday. “He also wanted to use it to pile up riches for himself and his wife.”Menendez’s lawyers argued that for decades, the senator regularly withdrew cash from banks and stored it at his home. His older sister testified he picked up the habit from their parents, who fled from Cuba with cash their father had stored in a clock. Defense lawyers noted the gold bars were found in Nadine Menendez’s closet. They contended the two lived largely separate lives and she kept her husband in the dark about her finances. “The prosecutors have not come close to meeting their burden to show you that any of the gold or cash was given to Senator Menendez as a bribe,” defense lawyer Adam Fee said in his closing argument on Tuesday. Nadine Menendez also has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial separately in August. Uribe has pleaded guilty to bribing Menendez. Two other businessmen who allegedly bribed the senator, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, are standing trial alongside him. This corruption trial is the senator’s second. A bribery case against him in New Jersey ended in a mistrial in 2017.Menendez could face decades in prison if convicted in the New York case, though any sentence would be determined by U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein at a later date based on a range of factors. More

This article is an onsite version of our Disrupted Times newsletter. Subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered three times a week. Explore all of our newsletters hereToday’s top storiesFor up-to-the-minute news updates, visit our live blogGood evening.The UK as a safe haven for investors seems an unlikely proposition after several years of political uncertainty and an unruly departure from the world’s biggest single market. But judging by market reaction to yesterday’s better than expected growth figures, the new Labour government has grounds for optimism.To be clear, the road ahead is daunting. As today’s Big Read details, new chancellor Rachel Reeves — the first woman to take charge of the nation’s finances — is facing crises on multiple fronts, inheriting what she claims are “the worst set of circumstances since the second world war”.Much of Reeves’s agenda, big on stability and fiscal discipline, is predicated on improved growth. On that score at least, she has had a lucky start, with yesterday’s GDP figures for May coming in at a double-than-expected 0.4 per cent after flatlining the previous month.Sterling rose to its highest level against the dollar in almost a year on the data, albeit helped by lower-than-expected US inflation driving down the greenback. The chancellor has also emphasised her business-friendly approach. Today we report on her plans to create a council of economic advisers to help guide the quest for growth and improve the UK’s lamentable record on productivity, which has languished since the global financial crisis of 2007-2008.We also report today on the plans for next week’s King’s Speech, which will detail the new government’s plans for the parliamentary session. These will include measures empowering the Office for Budget Responsibility to independently publish forecasts of any big fiscal event involving tax and spending changes; employment reforms including a crackdown on zero-hours contracts; and legislation to set up GB Energy, a new state-owned investor that will take stakes in renewables and nuclear projects.  Labour is also expected to legislate to put the entire water industry in “special measures” that would see executives face bonus restrictions and potential criminal sanctions if they fail to clean up rivers and beaches. The industry regulator yesterday put Thames Water into a special “turnaround” regime that may require the UK’s largest water company to break itself up. (You can read more on that in this explainer).Work has already started on another of Labour’s big ideas: a £7bn National Wealth Fund that will start investing “immediately” in areas such as green steel and gigafactories in the push to decarbonise Britain’s heavy industry.The FT editorial board lauded the move as part of efforts to overturn decades of under-investment, which has seen the UK at the bottom of the G7 table for total investment for 24 of the past 30 years. Delivering on all aspects of the investment agenda will be critical, the FT said: “Without a sustained increase in both public and private capital expenditure, Labour’s national mission of long-term economic growth will remain a pipe dream.”Need to know: UK and Europe economyFrench central bank chief François Villeroy de Galhau warned that political uncertainty following the country’s election meant business leaders were slowing down investments and hiring as they hedged against possible tax increases.Germany ordered a staggered ban on Chinese components in domestic 5G networks by 2029, ending a long-running dispute over the danger of Beijing’s involvement in critical digital infrastructure. Need to know: Global economyUS inflation fell to a more-than-expected 3 per cent in June, leading traders to up their bets on two interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year. Fed chair Jay Powell told Congress there had been “considerable progress” in tackling inflation.The world’s central banks meanwhile are growing increasingly worried about “unsustainable” levels of government debt, which they believe could drive up borrowing costs.China’s exports grew at the fastest pace in more than a year in June, boosting hopes that manufacturing can energise the country’s faltering recovery. All eyes are now on the Communist party’s leadership as it prepares for a closely watched economic policy conclave on Monday, although it has played down hopes of “strong medicine”.The global population is set to shrink this century, with 200mn fewer people than previously expected by 2100, according to a UN report that highlights the dramatic impact of falling birth rates. You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.An FT Big Read examines how the investment world is trying to make sense of a turbulent period in geopolitics. “Over the past 20 or 30 years, [geopolitics] has been deflationary, created lower risk and made it easier to invest,” said one investment manager. “Going forward it is the complete opposite: it is probably inflationary; it is probably going to create more risk; and it is going to make it harder to invest.”Need to know: businessWall Street reporting season began in earnest. JPMorgan reported record second-quarter profits fuelled by a dealmaking revival; Citigroup announced a 10 per cent rise despite mounting credit card losses; and Wells Fargo blamed “tepid” demand for corporate borrowing for a slight fall in profits.US telecoms company AT&T suffered a huge cyber security breach earlier this year as hackers accessed the call and text data of “nearly all” its wireless customers.The FT revealed that German billionaire Mathias Döpfner and private equity group KKR were negotiating a break-up of media conglomerate Axel Springer, the group behind US news sites Politico and Business Insider, and German publications Bild and Die Welt.Tesla’s share of US electric vehicle sales has fallen below 50 per cent for the first time, as the world’s largest EV maker faces increased competition in its domestic market. Ford retained its second-place position behind Tesla in the US market, which, unlike Europe, remains relatively shielded from the influx of cheaper Chinese competition.China’s CATL, the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery maker and one of Tesla’s suppliers, has held talks with overseas sovereign wealth funds and the private offices of the super-rich about raising a $1.5bn fund to build out its European supply chain. Amazon launched a charm offensive to try to persuade its UK workers to vote against trade union recognition. Results of the employee ballot are expected on Monday: if the vote passes, it could prove a pivotal moment for the future of the union movement.© Tom Pilston/FT Science round upAriane 6, Europe’s first new heavy-lift rocket in almost 30 years, which launched this week, aims to end the crisis over the region’s ability to deploy its own satellites into orbit. The rocket is heavily subsidised so it can compete against Elon Musk’s Space.New UK science minister Sir Patrick Vallance said the country wanted to be a “reliable partner” with the global community and attempt to repair some of the damage done by Brexit. Plans for the “reset” include hosting an international scientific research facility.Pfizer is planning to test a daily weight-loss pill later this year, based on the compound danuglipron — a glucagon-like peptide, or GLP-1, similar to those used in popular weight-loss drugs produced by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.A new series of FT explainers highlights the climate tech that could help save the planet, from sustainable aviation fuels to carbon capture and removal.Some good newsDrones are mostly in the news for their contributions to warfare, but they are also increasingly being used to deliver emergency medical supplies to remote areas. Rwanda, Malawi and Ghana were among the first countries to explore their potential but usage is spreading across the world.A drone from the Zipline company makes a drop More