Connect with us

Economics

Weak EU growth threatening bloc’s geopolitical relevance

Published

on

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi during the press conference at the Multifunctional Hall of the Prime Minister on July 12, 2022 in Rome, Italy.

Massimo Di Vita | Mondadori Portfolio | Getty Images

Economic growth in the European Union continues to lag behind that of China and the United States, threatening the bloc’s goals of bolstering its geopolitical relevance, social equality and decarbonization, according to a report from economist and politician Mario Draghi.

The keenly awaited report led by Draghi — who previously served as prime minister of Italy and president of the European Central Bank during the euro zone debt crisis — found these EU ambitions were now in question amid weakening productivity growth that is slowing overall economic expansion in the region.

The wide-ranging report lays out major challenges that the EU must address through a new industrial strategy, which would include reducing energy prices, raising competitiveness and strengthening defense investment.

The EU must also adapt to a world where “dependencies are becoming vulnerabilities and it can no longer rely on others for its security,” the report found, citing the EU’s dependence on China for critical minerals, and China’s reliance on the EU for absorbing its industrial overcapacity.

The EU’s high level of trade openness will leave it exposed, if trends toward supply chain autonomy accelerate, the report continues. Roughly 40% of Europe’s imports come from a small number of suppliers which are difficult to replace, and around half of this volume originates from countries with which the bloc is not “strategically aligned,” it says.

“The EU will need to develop a genuine “foreign economic policy” that coordinates preferential trade agreements and direct investment with resource-rich nations, the building up of stockpiles in selected critical areas, and the creation of industrial partnerships to secure the supply chain of key technologies,” the report states.

The EU will need to ensure dependencies do not increase and look to “harness the potential of domestic resources through mining, recycling and innovation in alternative materials.”

Other goals include full implementation of the single market, which includes 440 million consumers and 23 million companies, by reducing trade friction. The bloc also seeks to ensure its competition policy does not become a “barrier to Europe’s goals,” particularly in the technology sector. The European coalition must also facilitate “massive investment needs unseen for half a century in Europe,” through a mix of private finance and public support. The EU is meanwhile suffering an “innovation deficit” which must be tackled through reforms, the report states.

The EU’s total investment-to-GDP rate will have to rise by around 5 percentage points of EU GDP per year to levels last seen in the 1960s and 70s to meet defense, digitalization and decarbonization targets, according to the study.

On steps to mobilize private finance, the report recommends transitioning the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) from a co-ordinator of national regulators into a single regulator for all EU securities markets able to focus on overarching goals, similar to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The report was commissioned last year by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was elected for a second five-year term in July and is set to appoint new Commissioners this week.

The findings “will trigger a crucial debate for the future of the EU/Eurozone, but there is no need to hold your breath,” Lorenzo Codogno, founder of Lorenzo Codogno Macro Advisors, said in emailed comments.

“Nothing will happen until the new Commission becomes fully operational, and even after that, the tricky, fragmented and fragile political situation across member states makes it challenging to obtain the political support necessary for action. Still, some surprises cannot be ruled out, and thus, the political debate that will follow needs to be monitored carefully,” he said.

Economics

Companies already raise prices or plan to, blaming tariffs, data shows

Published

on

Johnson & Johnson manufacturing facility in Wilson, North Carolina.

Courtesy: Johnson & Johnson

Data from the New York Federal Reserve shows a majority of companies have passed along at least some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs onto customers, the latest in a growing body of evidence indicating the policy change is likely to stretch consumers’ wallets.

In May, about 77% of service firms that saw increased costs due to higher U.S. tariffs tariffs passed through at least at least some of the rise to clients, according to a survey conducted by the New York Fed that was released Wednesday. Around 75% of manufacturers surveyed said the same.

In fact, more than 30% of manufacturers and roughly 45% of service firms passed through all of the higher cost to their customers, according to the New York Fed’s statics.

Price hikes happened quickly after Trump slapped steep levies on trading partners, whether large or small. More than 35% of manufacturers and nearly 40% of service firms raised prices within a week of seeing tariff-related cost increases, according to the survey.

Trump announced in early April that he would impose “reciprocal” tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories, sending the stock market into a tailspin. But Trump soon rolled back or paused those levies for three months, unleashing the equity market to claw back most of its initial losses.

July deadline

Companies and investors alike are now looking to a July 9 deadline for the return of those suspended tariffs, coping in the meantime with continued confusion regarding to trade policy. The U.S. has already announced one trade deal with the United Kingdom, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said this week that the Trump administration is “close to the finish line” on some other agreements.

The New York Fed’s survey is the latest in a salvo of data releases and anecdotal reports that have shown companies’ willingness to pass down cost increases despite pressure from Trump not to do so.

Nearly nine out of 10 of the 300 CEOs surveyed in May said they have raised prices or planned to soon, according to data released last week by Chief Executive Group and AlixPartners. About seven out of 10 chief executives surveyed in May said they plan to hike prices by at least 2.5%.

Corporate executives have been careful in how they speak about the impact of Trump’s policies on their business, especially when it comes to trade, to avoid getting caught in the president’s crosshairs. Last month, for example, Trump warned Walmart in a social media post that the retailer should “eat the tariffs” and that he would “be watching.”

Consequently, survey data and anonymous commentary offer insights into how American business leaders are discussing the tariffs behind closed doors.

“The administration’s tariffs alone have created supply chain disruptions rivaling that of Covid-19,” one respondent said in the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey published Monday.

Another respondent said “chaos does not bode well for anyone, especially when it impacts pricing.” While another pointed to the agreement between the U.S. and China to temporarily slash tariffs, they said the central question is what the landscape will look like in a few months.

‘Hugely distracting’

“We are doing extensive work to make contingency plans, which is hugely distracting from strategic work,” this respondent said. “It is also very hard to know what plans we should actually implement.”

Responses to the ISM service sector survey released Wednesday revealed a similar focus on the uncertainty stemming from controversial tariffs.

“Tariffs remain a challenge, as it is not clear what duties apply,” one respondent wrote. “The best plan is still to delay decisions to purchase where possible.”

Continue Reading

Economics

Fed ‘Beige Book’ economic report cites declining growth, rising prices and slow hiring

Published

on

A store closing sign is displayed as customers shop during the last day of a store closing sale at a JOANN Fabric and Crafts location in a shopping mall following the company’s bankruptcy in Torrance, California on May 27, 2025.

Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images

The U.S. economy contracted over the past six weeks as hiring slowed and consumers and businesses worried about tariff-related price increases, according to a Federal Reserve report Wednesday.

In its periodic “Beige Book” summary of conditions, the central bank noted that “economic activity has declined slightly since the previous report” released April 23.

“All Districts reported elevated levels of economic and policy uncertainty, which have led to hesitancy and a cautious approach to business and household decisions,” the report added.

Hiring was “little changed” across most of the Fed’s 12 districts, with seven describing employment as “flat” amid widespread growth in applicants and lower turnover rates.

“All Districts described lower labor demand, citing declining hours worked and overtime, hiring pauses, and staff reduction plans. Some Districts reported layoffs in certain sectors, but these layoffs were not pervasive,” the report said.

On inflation, the report described prices as rising “at a moderate pace.”

“There were widespread reports of contacts expecting costs and prices to rise at a faster rate going forward. A few Districts described these expected cost increases as strong, significant, or substantial,” it said. “All District reports indicated that higher tariff rates were putting upward pressure on costs and prices.”

There were disparities, though, over expectations for how much prices would rise, with some businesses saying they might reduce profit margins or add “temporary fees or surcharges.”

“Contacts that plan to pass along tariff-related costs expect to do so within three months,” the report said.

The report covers a period of a shifting landscape for President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

In early May, Trump said he would relax so-called reciprocal tariffs against China, which responded in kind, helping to set off a rally on Wall Street amid hopes that the duties would not be as draconian as initially feared.

However, fears linger over the inflationary impact as well as whether hiring and the broader economy would slow because of slowdowns associated with the tariffs.

Tariffs were mentioned 122 times in Thursday’s report, compared to 107 times in April.

Regionally, Boston, New York and Philadelphia all reported declining economic activity. Richmond, Atlanta and Chicago were among the districts reporting better growth.

In New York specifically, the Fed found “heightened uncertainty” and input prices that “grew strongly with tariff-inducted cost increases. Richmond reported a slight increase in hiring despite Trump’s efforts to trim the federal government payroll.

Continue Reading

Economics

Meet SCOTUSbot, our AI tool to predict Supreme Court rulings

Published

on

This June may be the most harried for the Supreme Court’s justices in some time. On top of 30-odd rulings due by Independence Day, the court faces a steady stream of emergency pleas. Over 16 years, George W. Bush and Barack Obama filed a total of eight emergency applications in the Supreme Court (SCOTUS). In the past 20 weeks, as many of his executive orders have been blocked by lower courts, Donald Trump has filed 18.

Continue Reading

Trending