Trump lauds use of tariffs as negotiating tool before EC official's visit
Washington, July 24 : US President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised the use of tariffs as a negotiating strategy, the day before European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker was to visit the White House.
"Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It's as simple as that," Trump said in a Twitter post.
In another tweet the US President said: "Countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate."
"This should have taken place many years ago but, as the saying goes, better late than never!" Trump added.
This praise of tariffs as a trade policy came this Monday after he repeated his threat, during a display of products at the Made in America event organized by the White House, to impose tariffs on automobiles imported from the European Union (EU), Efe reported.
At that expo, Trump seemed to associate his decision on the matter to the probable results of his meeting with Juncker, scheduled for Wednesday.
Trump has insisted in recent months that the EU agree with his demands and facilitate the access of American products to the European market, and has threatened to apply tariffs of up to 20 percent on European auto imports if no such trade concessions are forthcoming.
Washington has already imposed tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the EU as part of Trump's aggressive protectionist agenda, a measure to which Brussels has responded with an increase in tariffs on a number of US goods.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
