The EU wants compensation for US import duties

The European Union (EU) has appealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to demand compensation from the United States for the high import duties the White House Administration has imposed on steel and aluminum, Reuters reports. An earlier complaint was also filed by China. In March, President Donald Trump decided to impose import duties of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum. Earlier, the EU said it did not accept the US's justification that its actions would defend its national security.

The European authorities believe that US tariffs have been imposed to protect the local industry.  "Notwithstanding the characterization of these actions by the US as security measures, they are essentially protective measures," the EU statement said. Washington insists that duties are not subject to WTO rules.

The EU says it wants to consult with the United States as soon as possible. At least at this stage, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea and the EU are excluded from the penalty tariffs.

Trump has already raised money for the next election campaign

Since the beginning of the year, he has raised $ 10 million. The next presidential election in the United States is over 2.5 years, but Donald Trump's reelection campaign has already begun. Since the beginning of 2018, funding has now been raised to $ 10 million, according to Reuters.Unlike other acting presidents before him, Trump decided to start actively raising funds much earlier in his first term.

Since the last campaign, 22 million dollars have remained, but nearly 4 of them have been spent on legal services, including the investigation into relations with Russia. Thus, the remainder of them together with the newly attracted funds amounted to a total of about 28 million dollars.

Trump is allegedly able to use part of the money he collected to help his Republican counterparties in the Congress's mid-term elections in November this year.

Kaplan: I'm open to raising interest rates in the US in December

Federal Reserve Chairman Dallas Robert Kaplan told CNBC on Friday he was "open" to raise interest rates in December, but is still not entirely convinced of it, the media said. Kaplan, who has voted in the Federal Open Market Commission this year, said the labor market is tightening despite weak employment figures in September, which showed a monthly decline for the first time in seven years. "We knew the September figures would be affected by Hurricane Harvey and, to some extent, Irma. And they really are, "Kaplan said.

"I prefer to look at three- to six- to nine-month trends. I think that much of the decline in jobs will, in my opinion, be temporary, "he said. The consensus estimate among economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters showed employment growth of 90,000 jobs in September. Unemployment has fallen to 4.2%. The next Fed meeting is October 31 and November 1, but markets do not expect interest rates to rise then. According to the market, however, the chances of a third rises in interest rates in 2017 are about 90% for the Fed's last Fed meeting scheduled for December 12-13, according to CME FedWatch. 

"I'm open for December, but I'm not sure," Kaplan said. As for the following year, however, he said: "We can afford to be patient."

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Patrick Harker, Fed Chairman of Philadelphia, said he expects interest rates to rise in December and three more in the next year, depending on how dynamics turns out to be. 

The European Commission is sending Ireland to court for Apple

According to the EC, the state provides the technology giant with unlawful aid. .The European Commission has given court to Ireland for the tax relief it has given Apple, Reuters reports. In 2016, the Commission ordered Dublin to return the 13 billion-euro simplified tax, as this constitutes unlawful State aid. So far, however, this has not happened. "More than a year after the Commission has adopted this decision, Ireland has not yet recovered the money, even in part," EU competition commissioner Margret Vestagger said in a statement today. "We understand that recovery in some cases may be more complicated than in others, and we are always ready to help, but Member States need to make enough progress to restore competition," she added.

The Commission said Ireland's deadline for returning money was January 3, 2017. It was also clear that Apple is still benefiting from special tax breaks in Ireland.

Tsipras expects a 2% growth in the Greek economy and a drop in unemployment

In the first quarter of 2018 a bank will be set up to finance small and medium-sized enterprises. Greece's economic growth will be close to 2% in 2017. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday, quoted by Reuters. His opinion is slightly above the revised government forecast.

Earlier, the government in Athens predicted that the Greek economy will grow 1.8% this year, re-examining previous growth expectations of 2.7%. "The projections that 2017 will end with a growth of nearly 2% will be confirmed," said Tsipras, adding that unemployment, which is currently 21.7%, should fall below 20% next year. The European state, which was hit hardest by the economic and debt crisis, in June completed a crucial review of its bailout program and in July for the first time in three years returned to bond markets. Greece's economic performance in this report is decisive as its third loan of EUR 86 billion is due to expire in 2018. A new state development bank, whose goal will be to finance small and medium-sized enterprises, will start work in the first quarter of 2018, the Greek Prime Minister said.

Shake the Russian monopoly

The process of separating Europe from the Russian gas monopoly is in full swing. Lithuania has become another European country that has begun buying LNG from a US supplier after Poland and the countries of southern Europe have done so. Russian monopolists are placed in a position of direct competition. Lithuanian Lietuvos Duju Tiekimas (LDT) has signed a contract with a US subsidiary, Cheniere Energy, to supply LNG directly from the state, Reuters reported, citing information from the Lithuanian state gas company. 

The agency says that the Baltic state for the first time buys directly American liquefied methane. The first quantities are expected to be delivered in the second half of August. With this deal, Lithuania is counting on a real diversification of natural gas supplies and a reduction in import dependency by the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom. According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy, the first tanker has already arrived at Klaipeda harbor where a liquefaction terminal natural gas. According to the ministry, supplies of US natural gas will help boost competition. The tanker has supplied 140,000 m3 of natural gas to Lithuania, a second tanker expected in September. Supply of US blue fuels will also be available for Estonia, which is also building a terminal since June this year.

After the Americans signed contracts with the Baltic republics, Gazprom's price for them fell by 50%, the ministry said. Liquefied shale gas from the United States continues to hit Europe's energy market. After gaining serious customers in southern Europe, now a country from the northern part of the continent, Poland, began to buy gas, LNG World news reported. The contract for shale gas delivery to Poland was concluded in April this year. This is the first supply of US gas to a country in Eastern Europe where Gazprom holds 80% of the market. As it is known, Warsaw has announced that it is giving up Russian natural gas in 2022 when the contract with Gazprom expires. US companies have declared readiness to build LNG terminals if there is a long-term supply contract with the country.

Russia is in a situation to re-negotiate prices, for the first time in history the monopoly has been effectively challenged. Additional headaches of Russian oligarchs are building a pipeline from Azerbaijan. Turkey and Azerbaijan are building a new 10 billion-dollar natural gas pipeline to supply blue-and-green gas from the Central Asian country to Turkey and subsequently to European Union (EU) consumers. The 1850 km long pipeline, known as the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), should be completed in 2018 and aims to connect to the existing South Caucasus tube linking Turkey to Azerbaijan gas fields in Caspian Sea.