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OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:16 PM – Monday, July 28, 2025
French Prime Minister François Bayrou criticized the European Union (EU) for agreeing to a trade deal with President Donald Trump that places a 15% tariff on all EU goods while the U.S. largely enjoys tariff-free exports.
Bayrou argued that the recent deal, facilitated by EU President Ursula von der Leyen, was an act of “submission,” marking a “dark day” for the European Union.
English translation: “Von der Leyen-Trump Agreement: it is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission,” Bayrou declared in a Monday X post.
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French government ministers have also since echoed Bayrou’s sentiment, with French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin telling the media that “Donald Trump only understands force.”
“It would have been better to respond by showing our capacity to retaliate earlier. And the deal could have probably looked different,” he added.
Notably, French President Emmanuel Macron has remained silent on the matter, and analysts say that this could be signaling his displeasure with Europe’s end of the deal.
The deal made was substantially lower than the 30% tariff, which was set to take effect August 1st, if no agreement was reached. The agreement also included a $750 billion investment in U.S. energy and a $600 billion investment into the United States.
“The trade agreement negotiated by the European Commission with the United States will bring temporary stability to economic actors threatened by the escalation of American tariffs, but it is unbalanced,” stated French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad in an X post.
“Let’s be clear: the current situation is not satisfactory and cannot be sustainable. The free trade that has brought shared prosperity to both sides of the Atlantic since the end of the Second World War is now rejected by the United States, which is choosing economic coercion and complete disregard for WTO rules. This is a structural change. We must quickly draw the consequences or risk fading away,” he continued, despite the EU previously enjoying a trade surplus with the United States.
“The matter is not settled. Protectionism, inflation, and uncertainty will penalize American businesses and households, while pressure on universities and the migration policy pursued by the administration will hinder innovation. But if Europeans do not wake up, the difficulties of others will seem minor compared to our own decline,” Haddad added.
Senior French officials have since stated that the newly introduced 15% tariff will apply to 70% of EU exports into the United States, while specific sectors, including aircraft parts, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, and specific chemicals, are exempt.
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