France urges the US to prioritize addressing the challenges posed by China over imposing tariffs on the European Union.
French President Emmanuel Macron advised US President Donald Trump to focus on China, a major geopolitical rival, rather than the EU, a key American ally. Macron, however, declared his willingness to strongly resist any US tariffs imposed on European goods.
Trump previously threatened to impose tariffs on EU goods, citing an unfavorable trade balance and claiming the EU restricts US car and agricultural product imports. He stated, “They do not take our cars, they do not take our farm products, essentially, they do not take almost anything. And we have a tremendous deficit with the EU.”
In a CNN interview, Macron directly addressed Trump, arguing that China, not the EU, should be the primary focus of US trade policy. He stated, “Is the EU your first problem? No, I do not think so. Your first problem is China. So you should focus on the first problem.”
Macron emphasized that harming the European economy through tariffs is counterproductive to broader US interests in European investment, security, and development. He added, “If you want Europe to be engaged on more investment, and security, and defense, if you want Europe to develop, which is I think the interest of the US, you should not hurt the European economies by threatening it with tariffs.”
Macron argued that a trade war with the EU is not a priority given global challenges. He highlighted other pressing issues, stating, “We have to fix Ukraine. We have a situation in the Middle East. We have this competition between the US and China.”
He further warned that tariffs on numerous sectors would increase costs and inflation in the US, questioning whether this is desirable. The high level of economic integration between the US and the EU, he noted, makes tariffs particularly problematic. He said, “The economic integration between the US and EU is “super high,” so “if you put tariffs on a lot of sectors it will increase the costs and create inflation in the US. Is it what your people want? I am not so sure,”
When asked about confronting Trump over tariffs, Macron confirmed his readiness to forcefully push back, stating, “I already did so and I will do it again. I think we should be ready to, obviously, be in the room and react.”
Trump announced plans to impose new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, impacting all countries.
Earlier, Trump had imposed tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico (25% on steel and aluminum), and China (10% on various goods), citing immigration and drug trafficking concerns. He later temporarily suspended tariffs on Canada and Mexico following commitments to improve border security.