French president and other leaders call for cooperation with Washington but vow a robust response if needed
The EU will stand up for itself if its interests are targeted, Emmanuel Macron has said, as the bloc’s leaders urged talks – but a firm response if needed – in response to Donald Trump’s weekend threat to impose punishing tariffs.
“If our commercial interests are attacked, Europe, as a true power, will have to make itself respected and therefore react,” the French president said as he arrived for an informal defence meeting with other leaders in Brussels on Monday.
The latest “choices and statements” by the new US president’s administration were “pushing the EU to be more united and more active to respond to issues of collective security”, he said.
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said the EU was strong enough to react to any US trade levies but “the goal should be that things result in cooperation”. The bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said there would be “no winners in a trade war”.
Europe and the US needed each other, she said, while the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said a trade war was “a complete mistake” and everything possible must be done to stop allies fighting “in the face of a Russian threat or Chinese expansion”.
The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said Copenhagen would generally “never support fighting allies”, but “[if the Trump administration imposes] tough tariffs on Europe, we need a collective and robust response”.
Trump imposed swingeing tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico and China on Saturday, sparking retaliation from all three countries. He said on Sunday night that new tariffs on the EU would “definitely happen”.
The US president repeated longstanding complaints about the size of the US trade deficit with the bloc and demanded Europe import more American cars and farm products. “It will definitely happen with the EU, I can tell you that,” he said.
Trump said that although there was no specific timeline for European tariffs, it was “going to be pretty soon”. He told reporters on Friday he would “absolutely, absolutely” impose them. “The European Union has treated us so terribly,” he said.
Speaking after a day of talks overshadowed by Trump’s threat of tariffs, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was ready “for robust but constructive dialogue” with the US. “When targeted unfairly or arbitrarily, the European Union will respond firmly,” she added.
She said the “steep tariffs” imposed on Canada and Mexico “raise business costs, “harm workers and consumers” and create “unnecessary economic disruption”. Both countries were given a 30-day reprieve by Trump on Monday, after global stock markets tumbled after his weekend announcement.
The European Council president António Costa said EU member states had agreed with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte that “a stronger Europe of defence also strengthens the transatlantic partnership”. Earlier in the day Rutte said it was clear that the US was “selling much more” defence equipment to Europe than vice versa and that there was “so much money floating around” with more to come as European Nato allies increase defence spending.
During his first term, Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the EU, which retaliated with trade levies on emblematic US goods from Republican states such as Harley-Davidson motorbikes, bourbon, denim and orange juice.
Leaders called for more dialogue with Washington. Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, said the EU and US “need to work together constructively” on trade because protectionism would hurt citizens “wherever they reside”.
Finland’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, also said Europe must negotiate with Trump on trade. “I am not going to start a war, I want to start negotiations,” he said, adding that the biggest threat to Europe was Russia.
Others attending the meeting stressed the need for a firm, united response. Luxembourg’s prime minister, Luc Frieden, said the answer to trade tariffs was to “reply with the same measures”, though tariffs were “always bad”.
Spain’s economy minister, Carlos Cuerpo, told RNE radio that although the EU was open to trade and in favour of a globalised market, it should not be naive and would protect its companies to ensure they were in a position to compete on a level playing field.
The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, said it was clear the US was “selling much more” defence equipment to Europe than vice versa and that there was more money to come as European Nato allies increased defence spending.
But the French industry minister, Marc Ferracci, told France Info radio on Sunday night that trade talks with Washington must embody “a form of power dynamic”. The bloc must wait for Trump’s final decision, but a response should be prepared now, he said.
To be effective, any response must “focus on products that are important” to the US and be “biting” – meaning it must “have an impact on the American economy to have a credible threat in negotiations”.
Germany’s conservative opposition leader, Friedrich Merz, who is expected to become the country’s next chancellor, said Trump would swiftly realise the tariffs he imposes “will not have to be paid by those who import into America … but by consumers in America”.
The governor of France’s central bank, François Villeroy de Galhau, said the tariffs Trump had already imposed were “brutal”. They would increase economic uncertainty and were a worrying development, he said.
Source: The Guardian
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