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Hello and welcome to World Business Report from the BBC World Service. I'm Rahul Tandon. On the programme we're going to talk to you about critical minerals, why are they so critical and who has control of them and why are children's films doing so well at the box offices? We'll be talking about that.
about Lilo and Stitch, which has had a pretty good weekend. But it has been another busy day in the world of global trade. We'll talk about what's been happening in India and Vietnam very shortly. But let's start by looking at one of the world's most important trading relationships, the one between the US and the European Union. Because if you were listening on Friday, you'll remember Donald Trump saying this as he announced 50% tariffs on the EU.
I don't know. We're going to see what happens. But right now it's going on on June 1st. And that's the way it is. No, they haven't treated us properly. They haven't treated our country properly. They banded together to take advantage of us.
But guess what? A weekend is a long time in the world of global trade. Tonight, President Trump extending the deadline to make a trade deal with the European Union as he threatens to impose a 50% tariff. Yep, on Sunday, as you heard there, Donald Trump spoke to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. And following those conversations, those 50% tariffs have now been put on hold for a bit longer. July 9th would be the date.
That was the date she requested. Could we move it from June 1st to July 9th? And I agreed to do that. And that she said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out. In the last few hours, the EU Trade Commissioner, Maro Sefcevic, spoke with US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick. Earlier in the day, Mr Sefcevic's spokesperson, Olaf Gill, spoke to the BBC.
It's plenty of time with political willingness and energy that has been lacking so far from the American side. And we're hoping now that following President Trump's announcement yesterday, we will see that energy and political willingness to the fore now. They had not until now meaningfully engaged with the many detailed, structured proposals that the European Union had presented to them as the possible basis for negotiations to find win-win outcomes that would protect Europe.
and even grow the EU-US trade and investment relationship, which is worth 1.6 trillion euro annually. Lukas Huppe is a German MEP who is a member of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade. I spoke to him about what's next for these negotiations between the two trading powers.
Today has been a good sign, right? Because the EU and the US are once again engaging in an open dialogue. And that's the way that we in the European Union want to do it. But also, let's not forget how easily this relationship has swung from cooperation to threats of 50% tariffs, then back and forth.
I think someone should tell Donald Trump that stability needs more than just handshakes. We should not confuse one friendly conversation between von der Leyen and with long-term stability, especially when dealing with leaders like Donald Trump who have openly attacked our democratic norms and the EU policy.
Many people would look at this now and say, look, it's time for compromise on both sides. But from the tone of your conversation, is that something you want to see? Or do you want to see the EU taking a more hard line stance with Donald Trump? Because he's rejected things like the zero for zero tariff offer so far, hasn't he?
I think we should be steadfast on certain issues like our legislation, like our values that trade is built on social justice, climate responsibility, workers' rights and a fair deal for both economies and both industries. We made an approach with the zero for zero deal.
This approach was rejected without any counteroffer. We can, of course, entertain now some other options. The question is if this will actually help us. I think in a negotiation, you should always look at what brings the negotiation to a conclusion. And if the counterpart is unstable in his behavior and doesn't react positively to your offers, what can you do then? Stand fast. You know, when you use the term we,
That is an interesting phrase to use, isn't it? Because the EU is made up of so many different governments with different views on this. Are there big differing views within the EU on how to deal with Donald Trump from country to country? Most definitely. But as you know, from the motto of the European Union, our strength is our diversity. So, of course, inside the European Union, for example, inside our Committee for International Trade,
We have very, very colourful debates on all of that. Well, give us a sense of those debates. What are some of the issues at the core of them? I would say especially the countries whose economy are more vulnerable tend to go more for a deal. The countries who have a stronger economy that can withstand this trial better, like my country, Germany, being one of the largest economies of the world, is vulnerable.
of course willing to endure this struggle a little bit longer. But that's the thing about the European Union. No matter how much diverse of opinions we have inside our union, that doesn't mean that we are not unified on the outside. And if you look at the situation right now, the European Union is more unified.
because of Trump than ever before. And we will act like this in the negotiations. We entrust our commission and Commissioner Sefcovic with finding a good solution. And he's reporting to the parliament at every step that he's doing within the committee meetings, but also outside of it, of course. In terms of that deal, which you hope
can be reached with the US. As part of that deal, Europe would have to buy more American products, wouldn't they? Like LNG gas, maybe more soya beans. I think so. I think that's a good solution. I mean, the EU was never reluctant to buy US goods in general. We don't want to buy certain goods that don't match our standards like this infamous chlorine chicken.
But if it just comes down to trade deficit and if we have to buy something more to make Donald Trump happy, I don't think that's an issue. I'm not even an economics expert, but even I know that it's not just about the trade deficit. But we know now from the past that Donald Trump is a guy that needs to have success in some fields to be happy. And if he needs that to be happy, we can do that, I think, without giving up on our own goals. But here's the question that I think confuses many people.
Right.
particularly people in the EU. What does Donald Trump want out of this? You've offered him zero for zero tariffs. You've offered to buy more US goods. What more does he want? I mean, that's where it now really comes down to my personal opinion. I think he's not interested in a deal in any kind. I don't even think he's interested in updating the EU-US trade relations in a substantial way. I think he's just playing a game to make his margaritas happy.
So we just have to entertain him long enough for him to be able to sell this as a victory for his voters. And then we can go back to an adult relationship, hopefully. The German MEP there, Lukas Sieper, and we will, of course, keep abreast of all those negotiations. So whilst the EU and the US are looking to strike a trade deal, some other countries are now looking for new trading partners. Let's talk about Vietnam.
That is the French president Emmanuel Macron attending a state dinner in Vietnam. It's his first visit to Hanoi. He's already signed a number of deals with the host country. Nga Pham is a Vietnamese journalist currently based in Taipei. I spoke to her earlier about the number of deals Mr Macron, President Macron, had already signed.
Today, he's signed more than 30 deals with the Vietnamese, not himself, of course, but the delegates of his entourage. They signed some really big agreements with the Vietnamese airlines, Vietjet, and also a few government agencies to set up satellite cooperation as well as some projects in defense area. $10 billion worth of deals, it looks like, have been struck already.
Is this a sign, President Macron, of course, his first visit to Vietnam, that the country is looking for new trade partners? He's looking to move a little bit away from the US because of the threats of tariffs that Donald Trump has talked about. The threat of reciprocal tariffs that Trump announced last month actually made Vietnam and France and other countries in Europe...
actually get much closer to each other. This is the first time that Macron visited Vietnam. He became president of France in 2017, yet it took him nearly eight years to visit Vietnam. So I think that trade tension between the US and Europe and between the US and Vietnam actually prompted him to make this visit not only to Vietnam, but also to Indonesia and Singapore in the lookout for new partners for Europe, for France in the face of this
really high 50% target that President Trump actually announced last month for Europe. Was that a surprise to people in Vietnam? There are obviously very strong links between Vietnam and France, that it has taken President Macron so long to come to what is an emerging economic power in Asia. The Vietnamese actually don't like to be mentioned as, you know, the former colony of France. I think the Vietnamese just want to forget that past a long time ago. So it was not
actually surprising that Macron never visited Vietnam before the troops actually left Vietnam in 1954 and never really made a very big comeback in the Vietnamese market. Instead, the US actually had a much bigger presence in Vietnam. So people in Vietnam actually don't really expect it too much from France.
Apart from the cultural and historical ties, we don't have much to do with France in terms of business, apart from, you know, some satellite and some Airbus deals. I think Macron is really, really wanting to get more partners for France. And that also coincides with Vietnam's willingness to reach out to more partners because, you know, they obviously have to prepare themselves just in case that Trump will stop all the exports to the U.S.
The problem is, as you've eloquently described there, that's not very easy to do, to find partners to replace the world's biggest economy, an economy where people spend more money than anywhere else. It's not that easy, is it? Exactly. But at the same time, I think the Vietnamese government is also looking for
new deals with the United States. So I've just spoken to some businessmen in Hanoi and they were told that a trade delegation from the Vietnamese government is still working in Washington, D.C., trying to negotiate with the Americans. So at the moment, the tariff stands at 46 percent. It's really, really high. And the Vietnamese want to reduce it down to just above 20 percent. You've probably heard that Eric Trump, Donald Trump's
son has just been to Vietnam to inaugurate a new project to build a golf course and resort in Hung Yen province, where the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam comes from. So the Vietnamese government is doing everything to appease Trump's government and in order to secure some better deal, probably next month, but we don't know yet.
Nga Pham, though, Vietnamese journalist. Now, we are a business programme, but we could not avoid this bit of the story because the trip did get off to a strange start as videos have been shared online of Bridget Macron pushing her husband, the president, in the face at the top of the stairs of the plane. At least, sources were quoted in the French media as saying what was caught on camera was a moment in which the president and his wife were unwinding by goofing about one last time before the start of the trip. And Macron said they were just joking about...
as we do. So there we go. Quite a strange way to start what is an important business trip by the French president to Asia. If you head to Washington, now Anar alluded to this, you'll find lots of countries trying to strike deals with the US as we approach that deadline for the end of the
pause period on reciprocal tariffs. Amongst them is India. Last week, Donald Trump told Apple he did not want them building their phones in the world's largest democracy. So how is India negotiating with Donald Trump? A question for Ajay Srivastava, the founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative based in New Delhi.
Symbolically, you can say yes, of course. It was considered a success story in India. But we thought that we'll be moving into component manufacturing and that's taking time. Right now, for high-end iPhones, we are dependent on importing almost everything. Just the final stage assembly is happening in India. So if it goes at this stage, we don't tend to lose much. Can I ask you, as somebody who has been a former trade negotiator, not involved anymore,
When you look at Donald Trump and the sudden changes in policy, how would you negotiate with him? I will not negotiate under any pressure. Right now, he is getting country to negotiate under threat. When I look at the US and UK trade deal, I see UK has given much more than they have got. So it's totally one sided deal. And that's what Trump wants. These are not
But the problem is he can do that because the US is the world's biggest economy. Even if you look at the negotiations between India and
and the U.S. at the moment, it seems that the U.S. is going to get a much better deal than India. I agree with you. In fact, I think India-U.S. deal may be the repeat of the U.S.-U.K. deal, or it could be worse. I think we should not negotiate under the threat unless there is a balanced deal. It's not a trade deal. I mean, there's no war and there is no victors and vanquished.
It's between two equal partners. If that's not happening, it's not a trade deal. It's something else. And we should recognize that. We should try to minimize the damage. But that's not easy to do, is it? When every country needs to trade with the U.S., nobody spends money like the Americans do. So if you're in that position, would you simply not talk to Donald Trump? I agree with you. In fact, they don't have to earn any dollars.
When he says he has a lot of trade deficit, America has a lot of trade deficit. You know, only when American orders, other countries can supply. They order because they don't need to earn dollars. They just print, hit print command and earn dollars. That's how they can buy so many things and this trade deficit is there. So I say some country will have to stand up.
Right now, almost everybody has given up and somebody has to call his bluff. This is not the way trade has happened in the past and this is not the way trade will happen in the future. Do you think that what we will see is countries grouping together?
We're seeing the EU and China moving closer together. Could China and India move closer together? You'll see trade blocs form to try and deal with Donald Trump and his administration. I expected that to happen, but so far there are no signs. Top leaders are meeting, but nobody has shown the courage to talk about the coalition. I would welcome if this happens. Ajay Srivastava there.
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You're with World Business Report here on the BBC World Service. Critical minerals are the building blocks to modern life as well as being crucial to the green transition. They're in your laptop, phone and in fact most of the technology you can think about and also probably have in your hands. But the International Energy Agency is warning that the world is becoming too dependent on just a few countries for those critical minerals which risk disrupting supply chains and pushing up prices.
It's something that Sam Fenwick has been looking at as part of a series we're running all week on our Business Daily podcast, looking at the global race for these minerals and how we're using them around the world. The sound you can hear is the blade of a wind turbine slicing through the air, a symbol of the world's push away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy.
But powering that turbine and the green transition it represents takes more than just wind. It takes minerals, dozens of them. Around 50 of these elements are now officially classed as critical minerals. Critical because they're essential to modern technology, but their supply is vulnerable. So we've got a sort of hazmat suit coming out now. We've just got a zip down the front.
I'm going to put a mask on next. Hood on, hair tucked in, zipped up. As the world moves to electrify transport and clean energy systems, the pressure is on to produce more and more batteries. On the screen just before you enter this room, it says minus 50 degrees Celsius. Dewpoint minus 50 degrees. It's telling us that it's extremely dry in there.
Probably drier than any place on earth. Production lines like this one at the Battery Industrialisation Centre in the UK can be built in a matter of months. And I'm being shown around by Richard LeCain, the centre's chief technical officer.
So what we have in this display cabinet are a lot of glass jars and what they have in them is the beginning materials of an anode and cathode electrode. This is this black powder here. That's nickel, 60%, manganese, 20% and cobalt, 20%. So that is the active material and that is what's responsible for determining the energy of the cell. The
These pastes and powders might not look much, but they're the building blocks for our future economies.
We're trying to create a different kind of energy system, one that allows us to move to a safer and more sustainable way of managing our energy needs. Tim Gould is the chief economist at the International Energy Agency. As we move towards that new kind of energy system, we come to a different set of mineral needs for energy. We're also going to need a lot more copper, because copper is at the heart of a more electrified system. And as
As with many of these things, the production and refining processes for those elements at the moment is in a handful of suppliers. Don't tell us what we're going to feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Back in February, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Washington, D.C. to finalise a landmark deal on critical minerals with the U.S. President Donald Trump.
Because you're in no position to dictate that. Remember this. You're in no position to dictate that.
And two months later, this happened. This partnership establishes a fund that will receive 50% of royalties, license fees and other similar payments from natural resource projects in Ukraine. Washington's also struck a major deal with the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. is also in talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to some of the world's richest reserves of cobalt and copper. But why now?
while part of the answer lies with China, which dominates the processing of many of these critical minerals. I think there's a slight misnomer right now that a trade war has suddenly begun. If you're sitting in the metals world, this has been rumbling for quite some time. Ellie Saklatvala keeps a close eye on all of this. She tracks the prices of critical and rare minerals at the market intelligence firm Argus Media. China has...
We've had an export control on hafnium, for example, for several years. Hafnium goes into the aerospace industry and also electronics. It can be used to make chips, the semiconductors. But then within just the past two years, China has also put export controls on gallium and germanium, which are really important for electronics.
And then more recently, on the 4th of April, two days after Donald Trump did his big Liberation Day, China put an export restriction on certain rare earths. And that is a really potent export restriction that could cause huge disruption. Here's the IEA's chief economist, Tim Gould, again. China does have a very strong position in these supply chains.
And so the potential unavailability of these resources is a big worry from a security of supply perspective. The International Energy Agency says the world needs to act fast to build resilience, diversify supply and prepare for shocks. Because right now, if something goes wrong in China, the ripple effects could be felt across the entire world.
You can find the full programme by searching for Business Daily wherever you get your BBC podcasts from. Tomorrow, Sam is looking at how China, as we heard there, has become the dominant player in the critical minerals industry.
Right, let us end with this. Despite all the hype, the stunts and the premiere Mission Impossible was beaten at the US box office on its opening weekend by a live-action animation remake of Disney's 2002 hit Lilo & Stitch, which itself is only second in US sales to the Minecraft movie. I've apprehended a dangerous experimenter. Where is he? He
He escaped. He's trying to find the police. Yep, that's a bit of Lilo and Stitch there, the Disney live-action remake that we were talking about. Sides of Relief at Disney after Snow White, another live-action remake, had something of a rocky start. But it does seem like it's kids' films that are leading the way at the box office. Let's talk to KJ Matthews, entertainment journalist based in Los Angeles. Is that a fair comment, KJ? Thanks for coming back on the programme again. Kids' films seem to be doing pretty well this year.
They do seem to be doing pretty well this year. Yes, people love animation, but they love video games too. And I heard you mention Minecraft and, you know, Minecraft is based on a video game. And I've always believed that the video game fans are larger than the animation fans. I really do believe that when it comes to box office numbers and what's so. I mean, both of them have a following. You know, you're always going to find people who love animation and especially if it's a sequel to
an animated film that they love it will bring people out to the theater however the video game people they just show up in numbers i feel like two to one when it comes to animation okay yes well when we're talking about animation what do you make of the live action remake this film lilo and stitch has done very well but other films haven't done so well have they
It's really been a mixed bag with Disney. I hear what you're saying. It really does. I mean, definitely Lilo and Stitch just own the box office. It's really trumped on Mission Impossible, Final Reckoning, which is the last in the installment of Mission Impossible film, surprisingly. Because if you look back, I really felt like the Mission Impossible, Final Reckoning was
almost had Barbie-level marketing. I mean, they opened at the Cannes Film Festival. They had premieres around the world. They brought in influencers. Tom Cruise showed up at local theaters and was eating popcorn. The marketing was there, just like it was for Lilo and Stitch. But somehow, some way, people just felt that it was a little bit more, I want to say, family-friendly?
PG rating versus Mission Impossible having PG-13 rating. And it maybe just felt that it was a film that was better suited for all family members as opposed to Mission Impossible. So that's interesting. But look, Mission Impossible doesn't have anything to cry about. They still had a series best. They brought in –
Huge numbers. $190 million it was for them. $191 million worldwide. I mean, that's nothing to sneeze at. And of course, $77.5 million domestically. I don't think they're crying. Okay, but then, you know, Lila on stage, $341 million. They're not crying at all. Here's the thing. Why do you, I mean, do you think as well, I went to see Mission Impossible this weekend. And I have to tell you, I'm used to going to Bollywood films that are quite long. That is one long movie, Mission Impossible.
It was one long movie, but didn't you enjoy it? The action sequences, the storyline, seeing Tom Cruise doing all those stunts. Yes, it was three hours. But you know what? When you go see a Mission Impossible film, you're prepared for it. You're prepared for the action. You know it's going to be long. You know it's going to be a weaving story that takes you around the world. And so you can stomach it. I loved it.
I absolutely loved it. Don't hide it. You never do, do you, on this program? Right. In terms of that live action remakes then, because it's been a bit hit and miss, do you think it's something Disney are going to continue with or will they look at it and think it's only going to work for certain types of movies?
Well, the rest of the year, you know they had Snow White remake. Of course, Lilo and Stitch, we just talked about remake. They still got Tron coming out and Zootopia, which are remakes. However, Disney has a new film coming out next month called Elio.
which is an original animated film by three female filmmakers. And I think people are going to find that interesting. So they are trying to infuse something new in between the sequels. But, you know, don't fix what isn't broken. If people love it, you know, there's a nostalgia. That's why people love coming back to these remakes. And if they have box office success, you can't argue with that.
Of course, the people who argue against it will say, you know, what about originality? We're tired of seeing the remakes. We're tired of seeing the sequels. We want something new. And that is why I think they're bringing in Elio next month. And it will be interesting to see how that does at the box office, since that is a new animated film by Pixar.
Right. 30 seconds for the final question. Memorial weekend. Are we seeing people flooding back to the cinema now? All the cinema is pretty packed. Or are people still sitting at home and watching streaming with their popcorn? Look, they are still sitting at home. But when a film only debuts at the box office and it's Mission Impossible or Lilo and Stitch like they're coming out and they're coming out in droves.
KJ, as always, thank you so much for joining us on the program. As you heard there, KJ Matthews went to see Mission Impossible. And I think it's fair to say that she did enjoy Tom Cruise doing all those stunts. Of course, he does all those stunts himself, which is pretty impressive. Right. We are going to be back with Business Matters at 0000 midnight GMT. I always get confused with that.
particular time. I think that's right. Well, anyway, we're back in a couple of hours time. We'll be talking a little bit more about those trade deals and a little bit more about critical minerals. Join us for that.
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