Global Times published a review of some responses in Europe and Mexico to Trump’s announced escalation of his tariff war over the weekend. On July 13 French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X, in English, that “Along with the President of the European Commission, France shares the same very strong disapproval at the announcement of horizontal 30% tariffs on EU exports to the United States from August 1st. ... In particular, this implies speeding up the preparation of credible countermeasures, by mobilising all the instruments at its disposal, including anti-coercion, if no agreement is reached by August 1st.”
According to Reuters, “It is brazen and disrespectful to increase the tariffs on European goods announced on April 2 from 20% to 30%,” said MEP Bernd Lange of Germany, who chairs the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade. “This is a slap in the face for the negotiations. This is no way to deal with a key trading partner,” he told Reuters. He added that Europe should make it clear that these “unfair trade practices” were unacceptable.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on July 13 that the European Union must take “decisive” measures against the United States, if tariff negotiations fail to cool an escalating global trade war, reported Reuters. “If a fair negotiated solution does not succeed, then we must take decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and companies in Europe,” Klingbeil, who is also vice chancellor in Germany’s ruling coalition, told Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.... A 30% tariff on EU exports would disrupt essential trans-Atlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic.”
