Paris – “With the European Commission, we must be strong: Europe must continue to work on all necessary countermeasures,” said Emmanuel Macron after Donald Trump’s surprise announcement on Wednesday of a pause in the increase of tariffs, limited to 25% for steel, aluminum, and automobiles, and 10% for other products.

He specifically warned about the need for the European Union to protect itself “from flows from third countries,” particularly China, which remains taxed at the maximum, and whose influx of products could “upset our market.”

Emmanuel Macron therefore reminded that the objective of the European Commission was “simple: to negotiate to remove these unfair tariffs and obtain a balanced agreement, without asymmetry,” as this three-month pause represents “90 days of uncertainty for all our businesses, on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.”

“We are right to fight, these are jobs and the life of our territories that are at stake here,” the French president insisted. (April 11, 2025)