Customs duties: Emmanuel Macron "hopes to have convinced" Trump to spare the EU

"I hope I convinced him" : French President Emmanuel Macron , visiting Washington on Monday, February 24, pleaded the cause of the European Union in the face of the tide of new customs duties promised by Donald Trump . Since the start of his second term on January 20, the American president has regularly announced new taxes on products entering the United States, sometimes already in force (with China), sometimes postponed to a later date for Canadians, Mexicans or even specific products such as steel, aluminum, later medicines, automobiles, etc. He accuses in particular the countries of the European Union - which exports more to the United States than the other way around - of behaving "unfairly" towards his country. Donald Trump criticizes in particular the level of the value added tax (VAT), paid by consumers in European countries, which he likened to an additional customs duty on American products.

During a visit to the White House on Monday, Emmanuel Macron tried to soften his counterpart's mood towards the European bloc. "Our desire is for there to be fair competition , " "equitable" between "our industries , " "more fluid trade and even more investment" on both sides of the Atlantic, he declared during a joint press conference at the White House. Discussions will continue "between our ministers, our teams, to clarify the subjects that need to be clarified" on the commercial level, he added. "I hope to have convinced him," the French president then affirmed, in an interview with the American channel Fox News. " VAT [of 20% in France, Editor's note] is not a customs duty," he notably stressed.

The urgent thing is to increase our spending on defense and security. How do you expect us to do that if we are in a trade war?

Emmanuel Macron

"This is really not the time to increase customs duties," he continued. "Why? Because the urgent thing is to increase our spending on defense and security. How do you expect us to do that if we're in a trade war?" A large part of the meeting between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron focused on the war in Ukraine , three years to the day after the start of the Russian invasion. Emmanuel Macron also said on Fox News that he told his counterpart that the latter could "not wage a trade war against China and Europe at the same time." On Monday, a bilateral meeting also took place in Washington between the finance ministers, the American Scott Bessent and the French Eric Lombard. On this occasion, Scott Bessent "underlined the importance of continuing the long transatlantic relationship between France and the United States," according to a press release from the American administration.

The threat of tariffs is even more tangible for the United States' direct neighbors: Canada and Mexico . During a press conference with Emmanuel Macron, President Donald Trump affirmed that the customs duties he wishes to impose on them would be applied "according to the planned timetable." Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, for her part, hoped, at a press conference in Mexico City, to reach an agreement before the end of the week to avoid seeing Mexican products overtaxed as of March 4.

Donald Trump had announced the implementation of 25% customs duties on all Canadian and Mexican products before reversing course in early February, a few hours before they came into effect, by granting a 30-day reprieve to the two countries. "We have to be able to deal with the unpredictability of President Trump," declared Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly. "We have to be aware that the threat of customs duties is real, and could last for a while," she added, saying she had had "positive feedback from many American officials on what we have done" to meet the American demand to better secure their shared border.