<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/03/fundamentally-wrong-european-leaders-condemn-trump-tariffs>
"European leaders have condemned Donald Trump’s tariffs as “fundamentally
wrong” and creating an “immense difficulty for Europe”, while appealing for
last-ditch negotiations to avert an all-out trade war.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Trump’s decision to impose tariffs
was “brutal and unfounded” and appeared to call for a suspension of French
investment in the US until the tariffs were clarified.
“Future investments, investments announced in the last weeks, should be
suspended for a time for as long as the situation with the United States is not
clarified,” Macron told a meeting of French companies.
Suggesting measures against the US tech sector “where the United States
benefits enormously from Europe”, he added: “Nothing is excluded. All the
elements are on the table.”"
...
"The commission is also facing questions over whether it will invoke for the
first time the EU’s anti-coercion law, which gives the bloc wide leeway to
impose trade and investment restrictions on a foreign government deemed to be
using trade as a weapon.
This law could, in theory, allow the EU to revoke banking licences for large US
banks, cancel US intellectual property rights in Europe and block US companies
from bidding for European government contracts. It can be triggered only by a
weighted majority of EU member states – a big step against an old ally many EU
governments still hope to win round.
The EU’s most senior trade official, Maroš Šefčovič, is due to speak to his US
counterparts on Friday. “We’ll act in a calm, carefully phased, unified way, as
we calibrate our response, while allowing adequate time for talks. But we won’t
stand idly by, should we be unable to reach a fair deal,” Šefčovič wrote on
social media."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
