The European Union will respond “before the end of April” to new US tariffs that US President Donald Trump will announce on Wednesday evening, French government spokeswoman Sophie Primas said on Wednesday, according to AFP.
“There will be two responses. The first, which will be in mid-April, is a response to the tariffs already decided (by the US) on steel and aluminium (…) Then, a precise study will be carried out, for each sector of activity, and a European decision should be announced before the end of April, in a consistent, united and strong way by the EU,” the French government representative explained after a meeting of the EU.
“Work is underway to see which sectors of activity will be the bearers of this response,” she added, noting that French President Emmanuel Macron is set to discuss the matter with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday afternoon.
“We must be very careful in choosing these sectors of activity and at the same time very united, as the United States will obviously try to divide us and find points of divergence between European countries,” the same spokeswoman indicated, according to Agerpres.
The whole world is awaiting Donald Trump’s decision on these new customs duties that the US will impose and that the leader in the White House is expected to announce on Wednesday at 20:00 GMT (23:00 Romanian time).
Asked in Brussels about the statements of the French government spokeswoman, the European Commission’s spokesperson for trade, Olof Gill, expressed the institution’s dissatisfaction with Paris’s gesture.
“France does not speak on behalf of the European Union on trade policy. We are the ones who do this,” the EU spokesperson said.
For her part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s spokesperson, Paula Pinho, said the latter was “in contact with EU leaders on this important subject” to formulate “a coordinated response to which different European leaders” could contribute.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has already imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports and announced last Wednesday 25% tariffs on imports from the automotive sector.
In retaliation for the steel and aluminium tariffs, the European Commission has decided to impose tariffs starting in April on a range of products imported by EU countries from the US, totalling up to 26 billion euros. A first series of these taxes was to come into effect on April 1, but was postponed by the European Commission until mid-month, to give negotiations with the US another chance to avoid a trade war.