Macron calls on EU to ‘defend European interests resolutely’ from Trump tariffs
c/world · u/babysandpiper@sopuli.xyz · 138 points
**French president says bloc should be ready for trade war after 30% tariff threat but other EU leaders call for calm**
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has called on the EU to “defend European interests resolutely” after Donald Trump threatened to impose 30% tariffs on nearly all imports from the EU.
It came as the EU moved to de-escalate tensions after the blunt move by Trump on Saturday. The bloc declared a further pause on €21bn of retaliatory tariffs until 1 August, dovetailing with the US president’s new deal deadline.
At the same time, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto, announced a “political agreement” on a free trade deal on Sunday, ending nine years of negotiations.