Competitiveness Check—September 30 Edition
The Quick Take
US President Donald Trump, now presiding over a government in shutdown, has announced a flurry of new tariffs, including 10% on softwood lumber and 25% on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities. The United Kingdom, the EU, and Japan appear to be exempt. In a series of Truth Social posts, he also announced 25% tariffs on heavy trucks, 100% on pharmaceutical products, and 100% on films produced outside the United States.
Meanwhile, the 80th session of the UN General Assembly highlighted tensions over the organization’s ability to address ongoing wars, climate change, and artificial intelligence (AI). Discussions took place against a backdrop of the United States’ reducing or cutting funding to the organization.
Top Five Transatlantic Trade-Related Developments
September 12: The US International Trade Commission’s Office of Industry and Competitiveness Analysis published a framework for assessing the competitiveness of international mineral and metal industries.
September 16: Fourteen countries announced the establishment of a partnership aimed at supporting open and fair trade. The Future of Investment and Trade (FIT) Partnership brings together Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Rwanda, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay.
September 18: The United States and United Kingdom signed a Technology Prosperity Deal following Trump’s state visit to the latter. The memorandum of understanding enables collaboration in “strategic science and technology disciplines”, including AI, civil nuclear, fusion, and quantum technologies.
September 23: The EU and Indonesia finalized negotiations on a free trade deal. One day later, on September 24, Indonesia signed a free trade agreement with Canada.
September 25: Nine major European banks—Banca Sella, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, DekaBank, ING, KBC, Raiffeisen Bank International, SEB, and UniCredit—unveiled plans to launch a euro-denominated stablecoin. The initiative follows a growing push to counter US market dominance in the digital payment arena.
That same day, the United States released a revised import tariff schedule for the EU, implementing the agreement reached on August 21.
Figure of the Fortnight
$70 billion: The amount Pfizer has pledged to invest in domestic US manufacturing and research and development as part of an agreement with the Trump administration to lower drug prices. The deal follows an executive order signed in May to implement a “most-favored-nation” pricing model for prescription drugs.
Pfizer is the first pharmaceutical company to reach such an agreement under the policy. In exchange for its investment commitments, the company will receive a three-year exemption from pharmaceutical-specific tariffs.
Quote Unquote
“We’re getting rid of the falsely named renewables. By the way, they’re a joke. They don’t work. They’re too expensive; they’re not strong enough to fire up the plants that you need to make your country great. The wind doesn’t blow. Those big windmills are so pathetic and so bad, so expensive to operate, and they have to be rebuilt all of the time and they start to rust and rot.”
US President Donald Trump addressing the UN General Assembly on September 23.
“We will mobilize up to €300 billion to support the clean transition worldwide through our Global Gateway Investment Program, and we will turn our collective agreement to triple renewable energy by 2030 into a reality.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressing the UN Climate Summit on September 23.