Macron Threatens China with Tariffs over Trade Surplus
During his visit, the leader at the Elysee Palace urged China to step up cooperation on “unsustainable” global trade imbalances, geopolitics and the environment.
“I tried to explain to the Chinese that their trade surplus is unsustainable because they are destroying their own customers, in particular by not importing much from us anymore,” Macron said in an interview published Sunday by the French daily Les Echos.
“I told them that if they do not react, we Europeans will have to take firm measures in the coming months, following the example of the United States, such as imposing tariffs on Chinese products,” he added.
The EU’s trade deficit with China has grown by almost 60% since 2019, while France’s trade balance with the $19 trillion economy continues to deepen.
Macron has tried in the past to project a robust European front in relations with China, pushing Brussels to take steps to slow the arrival of Chinese goods that are hurting European industry.
Macron told Les Echos that European industry is in a difficult position, caught between US President Donald Trump’s protectionism and China, which “strikes at the heart of the European industrial and innovation model.”
“Today, we are between the two and it is a matter of life and death for the European industry.
We have become the adjustment market and this is the worst possible scenario,” he added.
Macron also said he was proposing a more conciliatory approach towards China, such as removing restrictions on exports of semiconductor machines from the European side and limiting exports of rare earths from the Chinese side. Macron called on Chinese companies to invest in Europe and “create value and opportunities for Europe.”
