“I hope I did convince him on trade and tariffs,” Macron told Trump’s favorite TV station. “I told him: It’s very important for you not to launch new tariffs.”
Macron’s visit to the White House to discuss the war in Ukraine was the first by a European leader since Trump dramatically reversed the U.S. position on the war in Ukraine, accusing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being “a dictator without elections” and opening talks with aggressor Russia on how to end a three-year-old war.
In Washington, the two leaders tried to convince the world of their special relationship, exchanging compliments, hugs and jokes. But they still disagreed on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war, and on how to head off a full-scale transatlantic trade war.
Earlier this month, Trump floated 25 percent tariffs on a wide range of imports, including from Europe. He also threatened “reciprocal” tariffs in retaliation against a wide range of regulations and taxes that Washington sees as discriminatory, including value-added taxes that are collected by the vast majority of nations of the world.
Macron said he tried to convince Trump not to impose those tariffs, stressing that Europe has not done anything that deserves a U.S. retalation. “VAT is not a tariff, and I argued it,” Macron said, adding that “we didn’t tariff the U.S.”
Macron also stressed that European countries will be unable to boost defense spending, as demanded by the U.S., if they also face a transatlantic trade war.
“How do you want us to increase security and defense expenditure if we are in a trade war?” Macron said.
Macron will brief leaders of other EU countries Wednesday on his meeting with Trump, ahead of a special gathering of EU leaders scheduled for next week.
