Emmanuel Macron says EU wasn't 'feared' in trade talks with Donald Trump
The EU agreed on Sunday to accept a 15pc tariff on most of its exports to the US, while the bloc's average tariff rate on American goods should drop below 1pc once the deal goes into effect. The bloc's trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, conceded that it was "the best deal we could get under very difficult circumstances."
The French president said the agreement isn't the "end of the story" and negotiations on the deal will continue.
"France has always taken a firm and demanding stance," he said, and it would continue to do so.
The European Union is pushing to get more exemptions from the 15pc tariff agreed with the US this week, with wines and spirits a top priority.
The EU and US are expected to release a joint statement by August 1 that will expand on the elements already negotiated â€' but will have no legal force. Once that statement is released, the two sides will begin negotiating a legally binding trade accord.
It's unclear what form the final agreement will take, but if they aim for a fully formed free trade deal, then it could potentially take years to negotiate.
Several French government officials have already expressed dissatisfaction with the deal. "It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission," French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said July 28 in a social media post.
However, speaking after meeting Wednesday with business leaders in France, Finance Minister Eric Lombard struck a somewhat less negative tone when describing the accord. "I am not sure that we could have reached a better agreement using other methods," he said, adding that some sectors may in the end benefit from a zero-tariff scenario.
The deal has created an awkward situation for Europe's leaders, who need to explain to domestic audiences why domestic products will be at a disadvantage to American goods. This has opened up an avenue of attack for far-right parties that are already skeptical of the EU's bureaucracy.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen criticized the agreement, lambasting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who announced the accord on Sunday with President Donald Trump.
"The trade agreement concluded by Ursula von der Leyen with Donald Trump is a political, economic, and moral fiasco," Le Pen wrote on social media. "The least that could be done is to acknowledge this stinging failure rather than asking the French, who will be its first victims, to rejoice in it."
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