Macron’s comments are seen as an attempt to dissuade French tycoons from cozying up to Trump, potentially to try to cut private deals, outside regular EU trade policy.
Earlier this month Trump announced that French shipping giant CMA CGM intended to invest €20 billion in the U.S. In January, meanwhile, Bernard Arnault, the head of luxury goods giant LVMH, said he was considering increasing investment in the U.S. and lauded Trump’s economic policy.
On Wednesday the Trump administration slapped the EU with 20 percent tariffs on all exports to the U.S. in what Macron called “a brutal and unfounded decision.”
The French president said Trump’s tariffs confirmed that France had been right to push for a tougher trade policy and stronger trade defense instruments.
“We need to continue to accelerate at the European level with an agenda of trade protection,” Macron said, citing EU duties on Chinese vehicles as an example of how the EU can up the pressure on its economic rivals.
“We are not naïve, we are going to protect ourselves,” Macron said, referring to the trade war with the U.S.
On top of retaliatory tariffs, Macron said, Brussels should consider using the EU’s so-called anti-coercion instrument against the U.S. — a new tool in the bloc’s trade arsenal that was conceived to hit countries like China — and also take measures hitting American Big Tech.
“Nothing is ruled out, all tools are on the table,” Macron said.