Fuck him....

Stop playing nice with Trump on trade, France tells Brussels

Emmanuel Macron’s team wants the EU to punch back harder in tariff negotiations with the U.S.

By Giorgio Leali

The French government wants Brussels to turn the screws on Washington as transatlantic trade talks head to the wire with no deal in sight.  

A French official working on trade issues, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Paris believes that European negotiators must “make it clear that we’re ready to press the red button” if Donald Trump refuses to agree to acceptable terms.  

A second French official said that the European Commission should recognize it is dealing with an ally who is “raising tensions in a trade war it started.”  

“This is what prompted us to raise our voice and to ask the Commission to be firm,” the official said. 

The demands from Paris to get tough reflect the intense pressure governments are facing as they grapple with Trump’s decision to rip up the world trade orthodoxy since he returned to power in January. Recent weeks have seen frantic efforts by European Union negotiators to persuade their American counterparts to agree to lower U.S. tariffs on EU goods ahead of Trump’s Aug. 1 cutoff date for talks.  

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday in Berlin, where the two will discuss the 30 percent tariffs Trump has threatened on all EU goods if no agreement is reached. That level would represent triple the current 10 percent baseline U.S. tariff on imported EU goods.  

While Merz and his allies have pushed for a quick deal — even if it means making significant concessions — to protect Germany's export-oriented economy, the French want to hold out for the best terms possible.  

The French officials who spoke to POLITICO said they were not criticizing Brussels for its negotiating stance so far. But France believes the EU needs to take a tougher approach now because capitulating would make Europe look weak, undermining the chances of securing good terms, they said.  

Time to 'evolve'

"France wants the Commission's negotiating method to evolve," the economy ministry said in a note to reporters. "The goal should not be to reach an agreement at any price." 

On Tuesday, French Industry Minister Marc Ferracci is meeting industry representatives to discuss U.S. tariffs, after which both government and industry are expected to push the Commission to take a stronger stand against Trump.

Ferracci is also expected to push a tougher line in meetings with German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche on Monday in Berlin and Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso on Thursday in Paris.  

French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said last week the EU should threaten to use the strong countermeasures at its disposal, such as the Anti-Coercion Instrument. Brussels is already considering a new round of retaliatory measures against the U.S., which would also hit services. But some EU countries are cautious as they fear escalation. 

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič traveled to Washington last week for negotiations, his fourth official visit since February. Meeting EU diplomats on Friday for a debrief, he told them a deal had not been reached but that negotiations were continuing.