The EU can pinch the US without shooting itself in the foot: Ex-trade commissioner Lamy
Lamy implies that the EU may end up having to retaliate against the US tariffs, one the current 90-day "truce" ends. "The EU has two options. One is to try to negotiate. And if that doesn''t work, the second option is to retaliate," Lamy states. "Now, the question for Mr. Trump is, 'is there anything which you believe would ease transatlantic trade tensions and which we could negotiate together?' So far, as far as I know, there is no answer to this question. There have been repeated trips by Commissioner Šefčovič to Washington to try and identify some sort of negotiating corridor. 'What are you looking for? I can tell you what I am looking for. Then let's structure some sort of trade-off.' But there is zero signal on the US side for the moment."
Does Lamy see the dispute ultimately going to the World Trade Organization? "If the US maintains tariffs that clearly violate their WTO commitments, then countries will have the right to retaliate and seek compensation," he replies. "You are allowed to offset the damage done to you by another damage that you impose on the US economy. At the end of the day, it's a lose-lose game. But there has to be a price for a country which belongs to an international organisation and which has taken firm commitments [to that organisation]."
We turn to the economic situation in France, which is a concern to many both in France and the EU. Lamy believes that debt is "the Achilles heel of the French economy. I entered professional life in 1975, and the French Republic has not had one balanced budget since 1975. And that's not normal. So we really have to, at some stage, bite the bullet and reduce public expenditure. None of the political forces in France really have a strategy to do that. And the public mood in France is pro-expenditure and against taxes. We've seen the results."
What would Lamy's former mentor Jacques Delors, who was president of the European Commission in the 1980s and 1990s, make of the direction that Europe is now taking, if he had lived to see it? "He would say, 'the world has changed. Europe needs to be more powerful'," Lamy replies. "Whether we like it or not, this a necessity imposed by the context." Lamy goes on: "We will not become more powerful if our economy is not stronger. So the first step to political power is to reform our economies, and to exploit the huge untapped potential of the internal market. This is a necessity. Then, of course, more investment in defence is a no-brainer."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Network
a few seconds ago
- Fashion Network
Atelier Tuffery expands its vertical model with Merino wool production
Atelier Tuffery has been steadily expanding—not just in sales, which grew by 20% between 2023 and 2024 to reach €4.6 million before tax, but also in purpose. Since taking over the family business in 2014, Julien Tuffery, the fourth-generation descendant of founder Célestin Tuffery, and his partner Myriam have remained focused on reinforcing French craftsmanship and local production. At the end of 2024, this approach led to the integration of two shepherds into the company and the purchase of 150 Merino d'Arles ewes, which gave birth to lambs. After the first lamb births, Atelier Tuffery now has a flock of 300 head. The company harvested the wool in the spring, which will be incorporated into some 1,500 products in its Autumn-Winter 2025/26 collection. It seems an anachronistic choice in a fashion and textile world with a fragmented value chain, but one that the company's management has accepted. For more than ten years, the couple has been steadily expanding their range of jeans, priced between €100 and €250, combining classic and contemporary silhouettes, and their local production. Their Florac workshop soon became too small, and in 2022 the company invested €2.5 million to structure its production and inaugurate a 2,000-square-meter factory, open to the public. By prioritizing production tools over communication, Atelier Tuffery is betting on creating a buzz around the values of quality, social and environmental responsibility, and proximity, with three-quarters of its products made in its workshops. Despite a complicated consumer environment, the brand continues to grow. It boasts a gross operating profit margin of 10%, enabling it to launch a new emblematic project with the creation of its own flock of Merino ewes. "It's a question of consistency and sincerity. To explain the decision to buy our own ewes, I have to point out that we've embarked on a long journey. I think that tomorrow we'll be selling a pair of pants not just because they're beautiful and well-made, but also for the whole story behind them. We were 30 years old when we took over the company, and we want to pass on the keys to a company that will be at the cutting edge in 30–40 years. Over the last ten years, we have invested in tools, manufacturing, transmission, and training. This represents some €7–8 million, but we've been able to do it while remaining profitable. If we had invested in advertising or marketing, Atelier Tuffery would certainly have a totally different reputation. But what would we have left behind? Our vision is that thirty years from now, we won't be able to afford a model whose raw materials are mainly cotton and elastane, which means petrochemicals. But we can't build everything we do on garment making, transmission, and manufacturing transformation if we don't control our raw material sovereignty." A mastered value chain Over the past ten years, the company has gradually worked its way up the value chain, initially securing its canvas suppliers, claiming to work with four weavers: the last Tarn workshop bought out four years ago, a workshop in the Vosges, a family-run company in northern Italy, and a Spanish denim manufacturer, Royo. On the knitwear side, the brand works with French companies Malterre and Lemahieu. Even if, for pragmatic reasons, it retains a small proportion of its range incorporating 1.8% elastane, the company has also set about diversifying the materials it uses. In addition to cotton, denim's flagship material, the brand exploits and energizes the supply chains of other French resources (which also enable it to claim a carbon impact three times lower than that of other jeans on the market), such as linen, hemp, and wool. For the last ten years, the company has been working with Merino sheep breeders in the south of France to add value to French wool, and claims to have recovered 15 tons of wool by 2024. This approach has enabled the company to state that 20% of its sales are now generated by products whose cotton has been replaced by locally sourced bio-fibers. By 2025, Atelier Tuffery will have taken a further step towards developing products for which it controls the entire value chain, from agropastoralism to sales in its Montpellier workshop and store. "The wool project was very close to our hearts because it comes from our region, which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its sub-Mediterranean agropastoralism. For hundreds of years, transhumant flocks of sheep have shaped these territories. When we want to build a common-sense sovereignty, we turn to productions adapted to the territory. Wool is one such product, even if the industry has collapsed with the development of globalized cotton and synthetic materials. We've worked hard to redeploy the industry in Occitania. There are thousands of tons of wool in our region, and it would be a shame not to use it when it is burnt. When Myriam and I started knocking on farmers' doors to use local wool in our jeans, we were seen as crazy. It took a lot of R&D to find the best blends of materials, but we did it!" The company has structured its processing chain for wool collected in Lozère. It is then washed in Sologne at Laurent Laine, before being combed at Dumortier in Tourcoing. Next, the material is sent to the Filature de Dreuilhe in Ariège, before being sent to the Tissages d'Autan in Tarn, and finally to the Tuffery factory in Florac, where the garments are made. After collecting some 15 tons last year with its partners, the brand aims to maintain this harvest of Lacaune wool and add some two tons of its own Merino wool production within three years. "We're finally starting to get to the heart of why I believe in reindustrialization: to reach volumes that allow us to have logical industrial operations. But we've had to work hard, because we have to sell them. Integrating our own wool is the last stage of the rocket. Having our own Merino wool gives us a very clear vision of wool quality. And we're confident that this will spread throughout the region." A strategy rooted in agropastoralism For Julien Tuffery, the choice to build up this herd is a defense of agropastoralism, with animals that live freely all year round and are thus more resistant to disease, weeding the vineyards of the Hérault in winter and ascending via the Mediterranean garrigues to the plateaux of Lozère in summer. Like its production, this herd reinforces the brand's terroir image. But the integration of this activity is also based on the company's need to secure its supplies. "This project has very substantial costs, but we couldn't carry it out without integrating it. These sheep serve our daily needs, because we're more than just a jeans brand. We're a local player. We're able to finance it because it's part of the company's overall economy, with a logic of 'brand that makes, brand that sells'. Today, we're doing it with our financial strength, so we can say to ourselves that in twenty years, we'll have built up a herd of woollens that will enable us to design tomorrow's business models," says the entrepreneur. "We were quite traumatized by what happened to linen. Linen twill fabrics are now selling at around €35 a meter, excluding tax. It's complicated because Asian countries are pre-empting us. If we can avoid this scenario with wool, all the better." A product with "a story to tell" The CEO admits to an obsession with mastering his business model, taking the time to build and consolidate the different strata of his project. He focuses on profitable growth, making sure to gradually increase his production capacity to meet demand on his e-commerce site, at his factory, and in the Montpellier boutique opened last year. "We thrive in digital, but perform better physically because our in-person experience aligns more with who we are—an excellence of products to touch, a strong story to tell. But we don't make any commercial decisions that might damage our values. Before developing a network of boutiques, we need to be sure we have the products to sell in those boutiques. You need factories and supply chains that stand the test of time. At a time when many companies were accelerating their commercial rollout, we insisted on our production facilities. We are super manufacturers: what's important is that we generate a super margin. We have very solid shareholders' equity. That's cool, because when you go to see your banker, that's the first thing he looks at." This focus on profitability is underpinned by a vision of financial autonomy to drive long-term transformation. With this in mind, Julien Tuffery admits that for the time being, he is not considering developing wholesale sales, as the margins of resellers today do not allow him to maintain prices in line with the market, in his opinion. "That would mean a retail price of less than €40," he says. "Right now, at €40, I've made half a pair of pants. I don't want to change our model. In 1983, my dad went from 60 to three people in a village of 2,000 inhabitants, because big retailers left for North Africa overnight. We've learned a lesson from this, and a great deal of humility about development." On the other hand, Atelier Tuffery is looking to the future. Its industrial model is designed to be duplicated in other regions, with sites that are "hyper-human, hyper-agile, hyper-competent, hyper-versatile" and able to respond rapidly to local needs. But the next important step will be commercial. The brand feels ready to open new stores under its own name.
Fashion Network
22 minutes ago
- Fashion Network
US tech firm Zugara accuses Chanel of patent infringement over AR makeup
Legal disputes over augmented reality (AR) technology are escalating across fashion and beauty. The latest case involves Chanel, which California-based AR company Zugara is suing for allegedly infringing on its patented face-tracking process. Zugara filed the lawsuit on July 22 in Texas, claiming the French luxury house's virtual makeup try-on tool unlawfully replicates a patented system the firm developed for real-time cosmetic simulation. The tech company is known for providing AR tools to major clients such as Nestlé, Pepsi, Toyota, AT&T, and the U.S. Air Force. At the center of the case is a patented method that tracks users' eyes and lips to digitally apply makeup in real time. While there are several ways to achieve this effect, Zugara alleges that Chanel's 'Virtually Try-On' tool copies the specific sequence outlined in its patent. Zugara previously filed a similar complaint against Estée Lauder, which was reportedly settled out of court. Chanel's virtual try-on experience allows users to test makeup looks inspired by its Croisière 2025 runway show. The tool features curated palettes, limited-edition products, and options to customize makeup virtually before purchasing. Unlike virtual reality, which immerses users in a fully digital environment, augmented reality enhances real-world images by overlaying digital elements. In the beauty sector, AR try-on tools have become popular for offering personalized, contact-free shopping experiences. But the rise of AR tools has sparked more than just innovation. Legal challenges involving beauty brands and tech firms are becoming more common—particularly around the collection of biometric data. In the U.S., companies such as Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, e.l.f. Beauty, Mary Kay, and Ulta have previously been sued for allegedly capturing facial data without user consent. As companies like Apple and Meta push forward with AR-enabled devices, experts warn that biometric tracking, facial scanning, and consumer privacy will continue to raise legal and regulatory questions across the retail and tech industries.
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
Trump orders the deployment of 'two nuclear submarines' in response to 'highly provocative' comments from Russia
US President Donald Trump said Friday, August 1, that he had ordered deployment of two nuclear submarines in response to "highly provocative" comments by a senior Russian official. "Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev..., I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances." Trump did not say whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. He also did not elaborate on the locations, which are kept secret by the US military. The United States and Russia control the vast majority of the world's nuclear weaponry, and Washington keeps nuclear-armed submarines on patrol as part of its so-called nuclear triad of land, sea and air-launched weapons. Trump did not refer specifically to what Medvedev had said to prompt the highly unusual public display of nuclear saber-rattling. However, Medvedev posted criticism of Trump on Thursday on his Telegram account and alluded to the "fabled 'Dead Hand'" – a reference to a highly secret automated system put in place during the Cold War to control the country's nuclear weapons. This came after Trump had lashed out at what he called the "dead economies" of Russia and India. This week, Medvedev also harshly criticized Trump's threat of new sanctions against Russia over Moscow's continuing invasion of Ukraine. Accusing Trump of "playing the ultimatum game," he wrote Monday on his social media, that Trump "should remember" that Russia was a formidable force. "Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country," the Russian official said. Medvedev is currently deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a vocal proponent of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine – and generally antagonistic relations with the West. He served one term as president between 2008-2012, effectively acting as a placeholder for Putin, who was able to circumvent constitutional term limits and remain in de facto power.
