In an interview with the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, he championed the patriotism of French business leaders, a similar call to that made by President Emmanuel Macron after Trump’s decision announced Wednesday to activate reciprocal tariffs, which include 20 percent tariffs on products from the European Union (EU).
According to Lombard, the White House broke the rules of the game, exposing the United States to a retaliation led by the European Commission, the result of a concerted effort by the bloc’s 27 member countries.
The minister denied any intention to launch a boycott of the US economy and estimated that the response cannot be one of total confrontation, but rather targeted at specific sectors.
The goal is not to tax all imports from the United States, which would be counterproductive and would harm both sides, he stressed.
On Thursday, Macron raised for the first time the issue of freezing new French investments in the United States, a call that took several business leaders present at a meeting at the Élysée Palace by surprise to analyze the impact of tariffs, projected to be particularly severe in areas such as wine exports and the aeronautical industry.
The EU’s response worries companies with a strong presence in the US market, with warnings that escalating the trade war would be devastating.
Analysts believe that the attack from the Old Continent should focus on services, particularly on increasing tariffs on the technology giants known by the acronym Gafam (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft).
ef/oda/wmr