this is d.w. news live from berlin on the brink of a trade war just hours from now the united states will slap on exports from the european union the tariffs will target aluminum and steel and come despite two months of negotiations the e.u. promising to get back with us on american goods will go to washington and brussels for more on this transatlantic. also coming up he's back the man who was to be. last weekend. is taking the post after all

the two main populous parties have again reached agreement on the government and it means you may well be sworn in by the president on friday. it's good to have you with us a trade war is about to begin between the two economies that are supposed to be the world's closest allies just hours from now the united states will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum from the european union it's doing the same to canada and mexico last ditch negotiations in paris this week failed to bring a compromise and now europe is valid to retaliate with counter measures against u.s. products today german chancellor angela merkel called the u.s. tariffs illegal and she warned that the standoff could spiral into a global trade war. it's the moment europeans see it produces where dragging

that help there would be exempt from us tariffs europeans export treat point five million tons of steel to the united states every year one thing is certain starting on friday washington will impose in part tariffs of twenty five percent on steel and ten percent on a. canada and mexico are also not spared. other countries which are no excluded from the us steel market. for new markets and live more closer in the open europe and market so we expect a deflection of new trade flows from countries such as turkey. or iran coming to the european union. german is economy minister is disappointed as well. today's decision by the us government is wrong it's

harmful for europe as well as for the united states. do you is already preparing retaliatory measures. this is a bet they probably were. european union cannot. react to that we've called the new kind of reaction so really you need to introduce a settlement dispute. on that of the on the w t o. the you is considering in part judy's on us products such as much as cycles bourbon cranberries and oranges mexico and canada are also contemplating countermeasures. on george and i by our washington correspondent claire richardson and from brussels our correspondent. to both of you good evening clearly we start with you how has the commerce secretary from the u.s. defended the american decision to slap its allies and its biggest trading partners

with these terror. the u.s. commerce secretary wilbur ross really tried to turn this on its head saying that european negotiators failed to convince washington not to extend i exempt into these tariffs either another temporary one or a more permanent solution now this comes after months of anxiety about what the united states was going to do here we saw personal lobbying efforts by french president and manual micron and german chancellor angela merkel who came to d.c. to try and convince trump and not to impose these tariffs on the european union obviously that has not worked out originally when trump said it that this that these terrorists were going to take place he made the argument on a case of national security he said that it was essential for the united states to have strong steel and aluminum allies excuse me industries domestically because this is necessary to the united states defense now it appears that that is that he is willing to burn bridges with those european allies in order to back up those

industries and those are often areas where he has a lot of domestic support politically and it's interesting today we were told that the europeans would be able to get over this quickly georg. you know you could argue that europe has seen this coming all along is there any shock tonight in brussels that's right they have seen this coming they're well prepared they have informed the w t o they have the i'm legislation but of course tonight you have this moment off of shock that actually the the it is now clear that all the hard work all the dialogue all the last minute efforts have been in vain. people are or they were still holding out for in a woman a war resolution the mean there there were trade delegations meeting trying to find a solution. right we released all these lobbying efforts right up until the last

minute we knew that the temporary exemptions that the european union and canada and mexico had obtained after the towers were originally announced in march were set to expire at the end of this month so we knew some kind of decision would be coming down by today at the latest it's interesting to note how much this really could hurt transatlantic ties between the united states and europe at a time when the u.s. needs its european allies in so many other foreign policy challenges we're course looking down the barrel of a possible meeting between donald trump and the north korean leader kim jong un they're going to be facing confronting china and other trade issues and they need their european partners to settle issues to try and find solutions to problems in the middle east so it's interesting to see that the timing of this is also quite sensitive even though this was the date that they've set for them to expire it's an interesting moment for trump to go ahead and impose those tariffs on the european union and any case. we heard. today calling them illegal i mean the top. of the day is there anything that they

can really do about it. the european union has started a dispute settlement case and they're really keen to stay within the legislation of the w t o and now what in twenty days from now if all member states a gift their thumbs up this list of tariffs could be slapped on the u.s. it is it takes twenty days because before hand the w g o has been notified so this is where in accordance with the regulations of the w t o that this will now take place so they really stick to the rules here and they hope that the u.s. will understand that this is the channel on what basis they they want to resolve this conflict yes because they think that with staying with the w t o this cannot spiral into a global trade war but from where you're sitting tonight that danger does it seem

stronger than ever retaliate but not ask that is the policy of the european union but of course if you take a look at the bigger picture you do not only have the scenario of a tit for tat war at the spokes person off of the german chancellor said that there is as we were looking at potentially of cycle of of escalation here that the u.s. has has provoked and the bigger picture tells you we also have the situation of the iran nuclear deal that the u.s. has walked away from so if the e.u. continues to trade with iran this could have potential counterterrorist coming from the u.s. then there's also a data protection law that has been passed that the u.s. has called hidden trade barriers so there is a whole set of things that could inflame this conflict or corresponded to or much as in brussels tonight unclear richardson on the story for us in washington to both of you you thank. theories some of the other stories now that are making headlines

around the world to spain's prime minister are on the roadways is that we will not resign ahead of a no confidence vote that the books set to leave on friday spanish media say we're going to wonder has the votes that he needs to survive that could clear the way for a socialist leader. to become prime minister then marks parliament has passed a law that bans the wearing of veils and other face coverings in public the law is popularly known as the burqa ban and though the government said it's not any religion similar laws have been adopted in several european countries since france did so in two thousand and eleven and human rights group in nicaragua says that eleven people were killed during anti-government marches on wednesday other records with the toll at two witnesses say that armed groups opened fire on protesters more than eighty people have died since protests started last month over plans to change the country's social security system. we're now in

a league where the right wing league and populous five star movement say that they've reached a deal to form a new government and the government will be led by law professor giuseppe conte who could be sworn in as early as friday it will be called to his second shot at becoming prime minister last week he returned his mandate to form a government after president. rejected his proposed economics minister. our here in the studio with me is dr marty you got of ogier he is a research associate at the department of politics and international relations at the university of oxford it's good to have you here at the big table sort of the turmoil in italy are we about to see an end to it we're about to see it. i've you know it's all in politics it's like our universe and i'm there it's hard not to laugh isn't it sometimes cried or do we run i don't know which a lot of people say true what we're about to see easy what is being billed as

a political government however and would have which is backed on a monthly by the league in the five star movement to populist and thomson of all big parties what's interesting however is that the government composition if you look at who took all the key ministries posts we're talking about not just the prime minister but the finance ministry effectively day to comics ministry and the foreign ministry you have technocrats in place there technocrats in place but what about mr mateo so the we so much of the day will be deputy prime minister and he will be minister of interior and do through allow him to do you know two to two to do what he cares the most about that is to say to develop a platform that is all about law and order and you know kicking out immigrants so that is. this is a case where the populist have gotten a position in the cabinet that they really want to run yes absolutely what's on the table for italy right now in terms of its place in the european union. it's too

early to tell let's say let's put that all across europe european capitals are nervous and waiting to see if these two police parties will follow through with actions or will just you know it will limit themselves to talk of the tough talk but not walk the walk their. elite could quickly and up late it eve did to two populist parties and their respective leaders managed to take over the government so to speak you. you said earlier this evening that you know when you're comparing italy and spain is like comparing apples and oranges right with these political crises so you don't see signs in both of these countries of the political systems in europe changing permanently. to give a two fold answer ok on the one hand solution to spin a little is completely different the parties are in power at the moment in spain so the center left since right majority very much pro your camp or you can integration

if we were to move to a center left majority we would still have a poor european majority and all major parties in spain are very pro european and he laid the situation is complete different the two most important part is the moment he lead the league in a five star movement are very much anti european so there we have two very different situations now the broader question of are we seeing a shift in the european political landscape yes we've been seeing that for a long time and you know not sure what we see is a shift away from the old x. axis of politics an x. axis that was from the mentally economic onto a new y. axis where politics is played out on my identity on the basis of identity i do the politics indeed ok so italy right now the. identity at the moment all right dr much we appreciate your insights tonight thank you. arts and sports news now is in a teams of don is stepping down as the coach of a spanish side real madrid the announcement took the world of soccer by surprise as

it comes just days after he led ryall to their third consecutive champions league title says until the press conference that it was a his own decision club president for dino perez here on the left admitted that it had called him by surprise is it on he took the reins at rio in january twenty six team won nine titles during his tenure. i there's also been big news around the world cup in russia captain paolo guerrero has been given the all clear to play in the tournament for the first time by a swiss federal court they were tested positive for cocaine and had a ban imposed by the court of arbitration for sport that court is based in switzerland meaning that peru were able to challenge the suspension in this wish to disallow sr the thirty four year old blamed the test on drink you coco. if you didn't know it was popular in certain circles in south america. are you up to date

with the news for all of us here in berlin thanks for the company will be back at the top of the hour with more world news this. week. isn't it time for. africa people and chicks that are changing for the better. let's. do it the farming magazine.