A decision to delay imposing tough new tariffs on the EU was a “fragile pause”, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday as he urged Europe to defend its interests and push for a fairer deal.
US President Donald Trump imposed a broad 20 percent levy on goods from the EU as part of his onslaught of tariffs announced last week, along with a 25 percent rate on specific products like steel, aluminium and cars.
The trade barriers rattled global markets and on Wednesday, Trump said they would be suspended for 90 days for most economies.
China, which was excluded from the freeze, now faces tariffs of up to 145 percent.
The EU, which had initially been hit with the 20 percent rate, now faces a baseline tariff of 10 percent, alongside countries like Japan. China was excluded from the suspension.
Little certainty
Macron said Europe needed to show itself as "strong" and must "continue to work on all the necessary counter-measures".
Writing on social media platform X, he said the bloc must “negotiate to remove these unfair tariffs and obtain a balanced agreement, without asymmetries”.
He warned that the delay represents “90 days of uncertainty for all our businesses, on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond”.
The French leader also cautioned that product “flows from third countries” could “unbalance our market”.
“We are right to fight: jobs and the lives of our countries are at stake,” he added.
EU puts tariff retaliation on hold to match Trump’s 90-day pause
Response on hold
The European Commission has put its own retaliation on hold to match the US pause. Finance ministers from across the bloc are meeting in Warsaw this weekend to discuss how to protect the European economy if Washington reimposes the tariffs.
EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said: “Obviously we are also passing the message that if we do not see movement also from US side and willingness to move away from this kind of tariff policy, we will have to defend our economy. We will have to defend our companies.”
Trump’s move reduced the EU’s tariff rate from 20 percent to a baseline of 10 percent, in line with countries like Japan.
But the shift does not apply to China, which is bearing the brunt of the new trade measures.
EU to react ‘firmly’ on tariffs after Trump says bloc was created to ‘screw' US
China calls on EU to 'join hands'
Beijing has responded with tariffs of 84 percent on US goods, including poultry, wheat and cotton. The US action includes a 125 percent tariff that took effect Thursday, in addition to a 20 percent measure tied to China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain.
During a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the EU to work with Beijing against US trade pressure.
“China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities... and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices,” Xi said, according to state media.
This, he said, would not only "safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests, but also... safeguard international fairness and justice".
Sanchez said tensions over trade should “not impede cooperation” between China and the EU.
Trump, meanwhile, praised the EU’s decision to hold off on retaliatory measures.
“(The EU) were ready to announce retaliation. And then they heard about what we did with respect to China... and they said, you know, ‘We’re going to hold back a little bit,’” Trump said.
He acknowledged there could be “a transition cost and transition problems”, but dismissed concerns over market volatility.
“In the end it’s going to be a beautiful thing,” Trump said.
(with newswires)
