Trump Announces Agreement after meeting with Juncker to End Trade War with the European Union

Washington DC, July 26.– President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he has reached an agreement with the European Union to move forward together toward a “zero tariff” situation, thus avoiding a trade war, after meeting in Washington with the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.

Trump said that he had reached an agreement with the EU to work together toward a policy of “zero” tariffs and trade barriers, adding that “We are starting the negotiation right now, but we know where it is going” and proclaiming “a new phase” in US-EU trade relations.

Meeting in Singapore last month, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un captured the world's attention and promised to work towards "new relations". Why have mixed messages followed?   

North Korea is a misfit power. Despite its new-found confidence as a nuclear-armed country, it remains a weak state preoccupied by its very survival.

July 25.– At the end of a US-NK summit billed as an "epochal event", ambitions were set high.

North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", while the US said it would stop "provocative" war games with South Korea.

Things have since taken a rockier path. Although Pyongyang appears to have begun dismantling a rocket site, there have been reports that it is secretly continuing its weapons programme. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has accused the US of "gangster-like" tactics.

So, why has there been a lack of clear progress?