The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has charged against Donald Trump and has called on Europe to use all the instruments at its disposal, including commercial ones, to respond to the United States offensive. From the World Economic Forum in Davos, the president wanted to make it clear that the European Union will not accept threats or blackmail and has warned that giving in to them would lead to the “vassalization” of the continent.
“We prefer respect to bullies. We prefer the rule of law to brutality,” Macron said in a speech, in which he criticized the American president’s pressure policy. Trump has threatened to impose massive tariffs on European products, including French wines and champagnes with rates of up to 200%, if the EU does not agree to the US taking control of Greenland.
While other European leaders have opted for a more cautious tone to avoid an escalation of the transatlantic conflict, Macron has set his own profile. France and Europe, he says, will not “passively accept the law of the strongest” and will continue to defend territorial sovereignty and the rule of law in a world that, in his opinion, is sliding towards the absence of rules.
The French president does not rule out a forceful response from the EU. Among the options on the table is the reactivation of tariffs on some 93 billion euros in US products, frozen after the trade agreement reached last summer, as well as the possible use for the first time of the Anti-Coercion Instrument. This mechanism would limit the access of US companies to public tenders or restrict services such as large technology platforms. Macron has described it as “madness” to have reached this point.
Tension soared after Trump published private messages exchanged with Macron on his Truth Social social network. In these messages, whose authenticity was confirmed by sources close to the French president, Macron expressed his incomprehension of the US strategy on Greenland and even proposed holding a G7 meeting to address the conflict.
Trump, for his part, responded by redoubling the pressure. In addition to reiterating his threat of 200% tariffs on French wines, he was upset by Paris’s refusal to join a “Peace Council” project promoted by Washington and which, according to France, could weaken the role of the United Nations.
In Brussels, European leaders have reacted by calling for this Thursday an emergency summit focused on Greenland and the common response to trade threats from the United States. From Davos, Macron insisted that Europe should not deprive itself of any instrument to protect itself.
