A few days after an agreement was reached between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump on trade tariffs affecting the EU, French President Emmanuel Macron called on the European Commission to balance trade relations between the EU and the United States, particularly in the services sector – Euronews reported.
”At a ministerial council meeting Macron declared that “in order to be free, one must make others fear him” – French media quoted him as saying.
The French president added, however, that this is not the end of the story. “We will not stop here,” he said, as the European Commission continues further talks on exemptions from the 15 percent US tariffs imposed on EU imports on 27 July.
The paper recalled that since the beginning of the trade war France has consistently taken a hard-line approach and is threatening to deploy the “anti-coercion instrument” (ACI): the use of an EU package of measures that allows the denial of access to certain public procurement contracts or licences to foreign companies.
The use of the ACI would enable the EU to target American services, as the Union has its largest trade surplus with the USA in this sector.
Euronews also reported that Emmanuel Macron considers the outcome of the tariff negotiations a failure. At the same time he welcomed the guarantees concerning exemptions for the French aviation industry. French leaders hope that the Commission will also negotiate similar exemptions for wine and other spirits, as alcoholic products are the most significant segment of French-American trade.
In addition to the aviation exemption, von der Leyen announced that zero tariffs would also apply to certain chemicals, generic medicines, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, certain agricultural products and key raw materials – the paper recalled.
