Reuters World News - EU deal, China talks, Gaza aid and a Bezos-backed pick-up

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

The U.S. agrees a trade deal with the European Union. Meanwhile, top U.S. and Chinese economic officials resume tariff talks in Stockholm. Israel announces a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors into the enclave. And the back-to-basics EV pick-up created with funding from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.  * This pod has been corrected to include a line on the daily pause in fighting in Gaza Today's Recommended Read can be found here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Visit the ⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠ for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit ⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠ to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, the US signs a trade deal with the European Union. Aid resumes in Gaza as humanitarian agencies warn feeding people won't be straightforward. An affordable EV pickup truck enters the market as tax credits for the greener cars expires. It's Monday, July 28th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal in Wonganui, New Zealand. US President Donald Trump has announced a trade deal with the European Union. I think you were saying this is probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity, trade or beyond trade.

It is. It's a giant deal with lots of countries. Speaking alongside EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, the pair agreed a framework deal with a baseline tariff rate of 15%. 15% is not to be underestimated, but it is the best. we could get. That will still be seen by many in Europe as too high, compared with Europe's initial hopes to secure a zero-for-zero-zero-tariff deal. The EU will also invest some $600 million in the US and make some big purchases of US energy and military equipment. It averts a spiraling

row between the two allies, who account for almost a third of the entire world's trade. Philip Blakensop is covering the story. I think from a European point of view, it's a deal they can accept. I'm not sure it's a deal that people are rejoicing in. Clearly, we've seen the reaction from Matt, who has broadly welcomed the deal. They have a very significant auto sector, which is obviously going to be heavily affected and benefit perhaps from having a 15% tariff. But then you've also heard from the French, who've said this is an unbalanced deal. And in terms of tariffs on one side versus taras on the other, it is asymmetric.

Trucks carrying aid are loaded in Egypt before heading to the rougher crossing into Gaza. The UN says Israel has eased some restrictions and about 100 trucks have entered. At a soup kitchen inside the strip, crowds held back by barricades desperately reach through with pots and buckets, screaming for help. But there is not enough to go around. Many people are starving, and the number of people, mostly children, dying from hunger is rising. And after ceasefire talks crumbled again,

Israel has announced a daily pause in fighting in parts of Gaza to allow airdropped aid to get in. On the issue of hunger, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had this to say. There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza. On the latter point, at least, the UN and aid organisations say otherwise.

Amand Bazel from Medicine-Saint-Front Tere says the food finally getting in is much needed. But the situation is so bad that people will need help eating. And some of them, like, we will have to work with them to reintroduce food because their system is not even able to digest anymore the food. We've reached that level of starvation for the population. Speaking in Scotland on Sunday, Donald Trump says he doesn't know what will happen after the collapse of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with Hamas.

They had a routine discussion the other day, and all of a sudden they hardened up. They don't want to give them back. And so Israel's going to have to make a decision. Kaniska Singh is in Washington, D.C. Kanishka, what does Trump mean? Well, Trump was not very clear in what he expected from Israel. His exact words were that I know what I would do, but I don't think it's appropriate that I say it. He did not elaborate further on what he would have done.

on what he expected the U.S. ally to do in the war in Gaza. Netanyahu had said earlier that there would be consideration of alternatives in Gaza without really elaborating much detail as the humanitarian crisis has unfolded amid Israel's military assault. At least six people have been killed at a mass shooting at a food market in Bangkok. The incident happened at Othor Khor Market, a popular spot for tourists in the Thai capital. Five security guards were killed and the gunman took his own life, according to police. No tourists were killed or injured in the incident. And staying in Thailand, thousands of Cambodians

in Thailand assemble at border checkpoints trying to get home. They're fleeing armed clashes that have escalated into the worst fighting between the two Southeast Asian neighbours in more than a decade. Thai and Cambodian leaders are holding talks in Malaysia to try and reach ceasefire. More than 30 people have been killed in the fighting, most of them civilians. Global stocks are rising on the back of the US-EU trade deal. Investors like the certainty that the agreement brings, but their optimism could be tested this week because it's a pivotal few days for markets. We have policy meetings from the Fed and the Bank of Japan coming up,

and the monthly US employment report. On top of that, we have a fire hose of tech earnings with results out from Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. It's going to give investors a lot to chew on and potentially set the tone for the rest of the year. And sticking with trade, negotiations just keep coming. This time, it's the turn of U.S. and Chinese officials. They kick off trade talks in Stockholm today, aiming to extend a tariff truce by three months. Reporter David Lauder is there. So this is the third set of major talks.

talks that the U.S. and China are scheduling. The Trump administration embarked on a set of talks with China back in May where they agreed to kind of dial things down a bit. They lowered the tariff rates and they agreed to resume the flow of critical minerals to the U.S. The U.S. side had some restrictions on things like software used for semiconductor design and aircraft engines and other sort of high-tech goods that China needs from the United States. So here we are. We've done that. The materials are flowing again.

So now where do we go? This is a relationship that's been very fraught with a lot of problems over a lot of years. And the Trump administration, it really wants China to rebalance its economy and turn it into a consumer economy so that it's consuming more goods from the rest of the world and not just manufacturing stuff. pushing it out into foreign markets. That's a very tall order and it's not easily accomplished. China doesn't really acknowledge that it has an overcapacity problem. So, you know, they're going to need a lot more time to talk. Most carmakers focus on bells and whistles to attract young drivers. But Slate Auto is going the opposite direction. The Bezos-backed startup bet big on

affordable electric pickup trucks. The vehicles are bare bones, think crank windows. But the pickup has price appeal. Starting at less than $20,000, Slate already has a 100,000-person waitlist. There is one small problem. The price tag includes a $7,500 EV tax credit, which under Trump's Big Beautiful bill expires September 30th. Reporter Nora Eckert is in Detroit. Nora, tell me more about the appeal of this paired down pickup. I just saw the Slate CEO speak in Detroit a couple weeks ago this summer, and she said, we're taking out everything that isn't a car. And that is really the truth.

I mean, it doesn't come with a stereo. It doesn't come with the screen that you would expect for your navigation and controls in the vehicle. It's really sparse and stripped down. But that sort of nostalgic old pickup truck appeal is what's resonating with a lot of. of shoppers and especially younger shoppers. With this tax credit going away, how much can a company like Slate absorb and how much are they going to pass down to the consumer? So it's somewhat easier for a big company like GM that is producing millions of gas-powered

pickup trucks or SUVs to absorb some of these costs versus a pure EV player like Slate or even a Tesla. It's a tougher pill to swallow now that they don't have this $7,500 boost. that would have supported their customers. And for the shoppers interested in a slate, a lot of them are going for the vehicle because of this price point. I mean, these are people that are really looking at their budget

and saying, hey, mid-20s is actually not going to be doable for me. I could only really stomach that sub-20,000 dollar price points. So, you know, it could eat into the 100,000-plus reservations that Slate has for its trucks. And for today's recommended read, a special report from Reuters on the conflict in Ukraine, and how during a pivotal push by Ukraine to retake territory from Russia in 2022, Elon Musk ordered a shutdown of the Starlink satellite service,

leaving Ukrainian troops with the communications blackout that disrupted their counteroffensive. You can read the full story on Reuters.com or the Reuters app. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player and we'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.