EU could tariff China like Trump did, warns Macron

Last week, Macron was in China with a focus on reducing the EU’s deficit of more than 300 billion euros with the Asian giant in 2024. One of the proposals in this regard is the adoption of a cooperation agenda with Beijing, which would include much more Chinese investment in Europe.

Macron said he had warned Chinese leaders that “if they do not react, we Europeans will be forced in the coming months to take strong measures and not cooperate, like the United States, for example with tariffs on Chinese products.”

The French president claims that he spoke about this possibility with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. His argument is that the EU must react in this matter of life and death for its industry, which is faced with new American tariffs and competition that he considers to be unfair in many ways from China.

The challenge proposed to Beijing, however, requires the creation of a common European front, which is not easy, admits Macron. One of the challenges is the fact that Germany “is not yet fully in line with us”, as many of its companies are present in China and fear the consequences, although Berlin is becoming aware that “the imbalances also affect it”, he said.