Marine Le Pen has branded the new US-EU trade agreement a “surrender” that will harm French industry, as well as the EU’s energy and military independence.
According to French politician Marine Le Pen, the recently finalized EU-US trade agreement is an economic and political “fiasco” that weakens the bloc’s independence.
The agreement, finalized on Sunday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump, aims to prevent a major trade conflict between the US and the EU. The EU will increase imports of US energy and military equipment, while the US will reduce proposed tariffs to a standard 15% on most European exports.
Le Pen, a leading figure in France’s National Rally party, which is the largest opposition group in the National Assembly, has strongly criticized the deal, describing it as “a political, economic and moral fiasco” for the EU.
She argued that ”Politically, because the European Union, with 27 member states, obtained worse conditions than the United Kingdom,” pointing to the UK’s 10% tariff agreement as a less favorable outcome.
Le Pen also criticized Brussels for agreeing to what she sees as unfair conditions regarding the import of American gas and weapons, asserting that no truly patriotic French government would have accepted such terms. She stated, “This is an outright surrender for French industry and for our energy and military sovereignty.”
She further claimed that the agreement sacrifices the interests of French farmers to benefit Germany’s automotive industry, citing “clauses forcing us to further open the single market to American agricultural products in exchange for reduced taxes on German automobile exports.”
“This globalization that denies and shatters sovereignty has been outdated for many years… The least that could be done is to acknowledge this stinging failure rather than asking the French, who will be its first victims, to rejoice in it.”
Echoing Le Pen’s criticisms, former Belgian Prime Minister and MEP Guy Verhofstadt described the agreement as “scandalous” and “a disaster,” claiming it failed to gain any concessions from the US.
Trump hailed the agreement as “probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity, trade or beyond trade.” Von der Leyen commented that the deal provides “certainty in uncertain times,” adding that a 15% rate “is the best we could get.”
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