The European Union’s trade deal with the United States is “submission” to U.S. President Donald Trump and marks a “dark day” in the history of the bloc, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Monday.
Trump announced a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU on Sunday after meeting with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.
Bayrou took to social media to criticize the deal, which would see an across the board 15 per cent tariff on most goods from Europe.
“Von der Leyen-Trump Agreement: it is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” Bayrou posted in French on the social media platform X.
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The response from French government officials stands in contrast to some other European nations. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal.
“We have been able to safeguard our core interests,” Merz said in a statement on Monday.
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On the other hand, French President Emmanuel Macron has not reacted to the announcement of a trade deal, while other senior French officials have been cautious in their reactions.
“The trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the United States will bring temporary stability to economic actors threatened by the escalation of American tariffs, but it is unbalanced,” French deputy minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said in a statement on X.
“The current situation is not satisfactory and cannot be sustainable. The free trade that has brought shared prosperity to both sides of the Atlantic since the end of the Second World War is now rejected by the United States, which is choosing economic coercion and complete disregard for WTO rules,” Haddad added.
The private meeting between Trump and von der Leyen culminated months of bargaining, with the White House deadline Friday nearing for imposing punishing tariffs on the 27-member EU.
“It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s going to be great for both parties,” Trump said. The agreement, he said, was “a good deal for everybody” and “a giant deal with lots of countries.”
Von der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability, it will bring predictability that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Trump said the EU had agreed to buy some $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and invest $600 billion more than it already is in America, as well as making a major purchase of military equipment.
“We are agreeing that the tariff straight across for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15 per cent,” Trump said. “We have a tariff of 15 per cent. We have the opening up of all of the European countries.”
Von der Leyen said the 15 per cent tariffs were “across the board, all inclusive” and that “indeed, basically the European market is open.”
— With files from Associated Press
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