Europe divided between the US and China: Macron warns of a trade war that could dismantle global chains and affect the European economy
Emmanuel Macron warned that Europe risks being divided by Donald Trump’s economic policies and being thrown into a simultaneous trade war with Washington and Beijing.
The next US administration “will continue to protect the market very strongly, at the risk of dismantling the value chains between Europeans and Americans”the French president said on Wednesday when speaking on a panel on European competitiveness. “We are clearly entering a world of tariff wars.”
Trump floated the idea of imposing a 10% to 20% tariff on all goods coming from abroad — which could impact industries and countries dependent on European exports, such as automobiles and chemicals.
The transatlantic list of grievances includes: green subsidies offered by the Biden administration, taxes on steel and aluminum and a long-running dispute between Boeing Co. and Airbus SE.
This would come on top of trade tensions between Europe and China, exacerbated by an anti-subsidy investigation that the European Union launched — at France’s insistence — into Chinese-made electric vehicles.
China responded with tariffs on European cognacs, which particularly affect French cognac.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also warned on Wednesday that “Overcapacity and countries selling products at below-market prices are an ongoing threat to Europe”.
“The United States has been bringing industrial production back to its own country with large subsidy programs”Scholz said at a lobbying event for the steel industry in Berlin.
“At the same time, they are closing the domestic market with high import tariffs.”
Speaking alongside former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, Macron said: “One of the points that Mario raised, which is very important to me, is also knowing how we will get caught up in the trade war with China, because one of the things that could happen is that there could be tariffs for everyone.”
He then added that Washington could “force the Europeans to separate from the Chinese more quickly” imposing “very strong tariffs on China”but telling Europeans: “If you are more compliant, we will impose tariffs on you.”
EU electric vehicle tariffs have already divided European countries, with Germany and its carmakers strongly criticizing the measure.
“And this is where there will be the risk of division among Europeans, depending on sectoral interests and different countries, some of which are very exposed to the Chinese market”added Macron, “while others, more dependent on the American market, will give in more quickly to the pressure that the American federal government can exert on them.”
With information from Bloomberg*
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2024/11/14/macron-reage-e-preve-divisao-na-europa-com-guerra-tarifaria-entre-eua-e-china/
