French President Emmanuel Macron stated he has threatened China with tariffs if Beijing fails to take steps to cut back its large commerce surplus with the EU, in remarks revealed Sunday.
“I instructed them that if they do not react, we Europeans might be compelled to take robust measures within the coming months,” Macron instructed enterprise each day Les Echos after getting back from a state go to to China.
Such measures could possibly be modelled on steps taken by the United States, he stated, “similar to tariffs on Chinese merchandise, for instance”.
The EU’s commerce deficit with China — the world’s second-largest financial system after the United States — exceeded 300 billion euros ($350 billion) in 2024, Les Echos stated.
The 27 European Union members can’t set commerce coverage, together with tariffs, individually, as an alternative being represented by the EU Commission.
Macron, whose nation is the EU’s second-largest financial system after Germany, acknowledged that it was a problem to get consensus on the China tariff query throughout the bloc.
Germany, with its robust presence in China, he stated, “will not be but completely aligned with our place”.
US President Donald Trump’s administration slapped tariffs of 57 p.c on Chinese merchandise this yr, though this was minimize to 47 p.c as a part of a deal between each nations reached in October.
“China desires to pierce the guts of the European industrial and innovation mannequin, which has been traditionally based mostly on machine instruments and the car,” Macron stated.
US protectionism had aggravated the issue for the EU, Macron stated, since China was “massively” re-directing merchandise initially earmarked for America in the direction of Europe.
“We are caught within the center right now,” Macron stated. “This is a query of life and dying for European business.”
During his go to to China, Macron stated the EU wanted to simply accept extra Chinese direct funding as a part of efforts to cut back the commerce deficit.
“We can’t all the time be importing, Chinese firms should come to Europe,” he instructed Les Echos, including, nevertheless, that Chinese companies couldn’t be allowed to behave like “predators” with “hegemonic targets”.
The EU wanted to mix safety for its most susceptible sectors, such because the automotive business, with a lift to competitiveness, he urged.
