The European Union could reply to President Donald Trump’s newly imposed 20% tariffs on EU items by regulating how American tech giants deal with information, France’s Finance Minister Eric Lombard stated in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) revealed late Saturday.
“We have now a number of instruments at our disposal on the European stage: regulatory, fiscal, customs,” Lombard informed the newspaper. “For instance, we will strengthen sure environmental necessities or regulate using information by sure digital gamers.”
Trump introduced the tariffs on April 2, aiming to shake up the worldwide buying and selling system. In response, the EU—America’s largest buying and selling associate—warned it might retaliate with its personal countermeasures, together with doable taxes on sure US providers and focusing on American tech corporations.
Lombard stated the European response ought to “inevitably” have “penalties” for each European and American companies, however he emphasised that Brussels doesn’t plan to punish all imports. “It isn’t a query of taxing all American imports, that may be counterproductive, penalizing our financial system as a lot as theirs,” he stated.
As a substitute, the minister defined, the EU will fastidiously “goal sure industrial segments, in a exact method,” whereas holding the door open for negotiations that would result in the tariffs being lifted. He famous that if the 2 sides strike a balanced settlement “inside an affordable time-frame,” it might increase confidence amongst French corporations and households.
EU guidelines already regulate information utilization via mechanisms just like the Common Information Safety Regulation (GDPR), and Lombard didn’t elaborate on how any new guidelines may look. Nonetheless, he underlined that each one fiscal and regulatory avenues stay beneath dialogue.
Musk desires the US and EU to think about a zero-tariff association
In the meantime, entrepreneur Elon Musk expressed hope that Washington and Brussels can forge a “zero-tariff” association.
Talking on Saturday by way of video hyperlink to Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini at a League celebration occasion in Florence, Musk stated, “Each Europe and the USA ought to transfer, ideally, in my opinion, to a zero-tariff state of affairs, successfully making a free-trade zone between Europe and North America.”
His remarks got here after international markets reacted to Trump’s commerce measures. Musk, who has served as a key adviser to the president since January and was a significant donor throughout the marketing campaign, voiced a contrasting stance.
He instructed a deeper partnership between the US and Europe, plus higher mobility for employees. “That’s definitely been my recommendation to the president,” he stated, with out clarifying whether or not the steerage centered on tariffs, freedom of motion, or each.
Lombard concluded that the EU is holding fiscal, customs, and regulatory measures on the desk if the US fails to roll again the tariffs. However he additionally expressed optimism about reaching an answer via dialogue, including {that a} truthful deal constructed on belief might head off a bigger commerce battle.
