Paris (AFP) – The European Union is “ready for a trade war” with the United States and plans to “attack online services” in response to Donald Trump’s new tariffs, the French government spokeswoman said Thursday.
“We are pretty sure that we are indeed going to see an adverse effect on production,” Sophie Primas told broadcaster RTL, expressing particular concern about the “strong” impact on wine and spirits. “We have a whole range of tools and we are ready for this trade war,” she added.
“Then we will look at how we can support our production industries.” Trump “thinks he is the master of the world,” Primas added. “It is an imperialist stance that we had somewhat forgotten about, but which is returning with great force and great determination.”
On Wednesday, US President Trump unveiled stinging tariffs on major trade partners including China and the European Union on what he called “Liberation Day.” Primas said the EU was preparing a two-stage response, with “an initial response,” to be put in place around mid-April, concerning aluminium and steel.
Then the EU will target “all products and services,” with the measures probably ready at the end of April, she said, adding this was still being discussed. “But we are also going to attack services. For example, online services, which are not taxed today but could be,” Primas said.
The EU’s response could also concern “access to our procurement contracts,” she said. President Emmanuel Macron will meet Thursday with representatives of French sectors “impacted by the tariff measures” announced by Trump, his office said. The meeting is set to take place at 1400 GMT.
© 2024 AFP
