‘Dark Day’: French Prime Minister Says EU’s Trump Trade Agreement is “Submitted” – Country
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Monday that the EU-US trade deal was a “submission” to U.S. President Donald Trump and marked a “dark day” in the group’s history.
Trump announced a trade agreement between the United States and the EU on Sunday after meeting with European Commission Director Ursula von der Leyen.
Bayrou went on social media to criticize the deal, which would bring the full tariffs on most European goods to 15%.
“The Von der Leyen-Trump Agreement: It’s a dark day, the alliance of liberal nations unites its values and defends its interests, determined to submit,” Bayrou posted on social media platform X.
The response of French government officials is in sharp contrast to some other European countries. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomes the deal.
“We have been able to safeguard our core interests,” Meles said in a statement Monday.
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On the other hand, French President Emmanuel Macron has no response to the announcement of the trade deal, while other senior French officials have responded with caution.
“A trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission and the United States will bring temporary stability to economic players threatened by U.S. tariff escalation, but it is unbalanced,” said Benjamin Haddad, French Deputy Minister for European Affairs, in a statement on X.
“Since the end of World War II, the United States has brought about a common prosperity of free trade, and it is now the United States that chooses economic coercion and completely ignores WTO rules,” Haddad added.
A private meeting between Trump and Von der Leyen finally reached negotiations, with the White House deadline approaching Friday as they imposed penalties on the 27-member EU.
“It’s a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s going to be great for both sides,” Trump said, adding that the deal “is a good thing for everyone” and “a huge deal with many countries.”
Von der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability, which will bring predictability that is very important for both the Atlantic business.”
Trump said the EU has agreed to purchase about $700 billion worth of U.S. energy, and $600 billion higher than the U.S. investment value, and has made a large purchase of military equipment.
“We agree that tariffs on cars are directly up to 15% tariffs,” Trump said. “Our tariffs are 15%. We have openness to all European countries.”
Von der Leyen said the 15% tariff was “full, all-inclusive” and “in fact, basically the European market open.”
– Documents with the Associated Press
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