The European Union’s trade take care of the USA is “submission” to U.S. President Donald Trump and marks a “dark day” within the history of the bloc, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Monday.
Trump announced a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU on Sunday after meeting with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.
Bayrou took to social media to criticize the deal, which might see an across the board 15 per cent tariff on most goods from Europe.
“Von der Leyen-Trump Agreement: it’s a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” Bayrou posted in French on the social media platform X.
The response from French government officials stands in contrast to another European nations. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal.
“We have now been capable of safeguard our core interests,” Merz said in an announcement on Monday.
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However, French President Emmanuel Macron has not reacted to the announcement of a trade deal, while other senior French officials have been cautious of their reactions.
“The trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the USA will bring temporary stability to economic actors threatened by the escalation of American tariffs, nevertheless it is unbalanced,” French deputy minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said in an announcement on X.
“The present situation is just not satisfactory and can’t be sustainable. The free trade that has brought shared prosperity to either side of the Atlantic because the end of the Second World War is now rejected by the USA, which is selecting economic coercion and complete disregard for WTO rules,” Haddad added.
The private meeting between Trump and von der Leyen culminated months of bargaining, with the White House deadline Friday nearing for imposing punishing tariffs on the 27-member EU.
“It was a really interesting negotiation. I believe it’s going to be great for each parties,” Trump said. The agreement, he said, was “an excellent deal for everyone” and “a large take care of plenty of countries.”
Von der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability, it would bring predictability that’s very essential for our businesses on either side of the Atlantic.”
Trump said the EU had agreed to purchase some $750 billion price of U.S. energy and invest $600 billion greater than it already is in America, in addition to making a serious purchase of military equipment.
“We’re agreeing that the tariff straight across for automobiles and all the things else will likely be a straight across tariff of 15 per cent,” Trump said. “We have now a tariff of 15 per cent. We have now the opening up of all the European countries.”
Von der Leyen said the 15 per cent tariffs were “across the board, all inclusive” and that “indeed, principally the European market is open.”
— With files from Associated Press
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