French industry chief warns against European disunity on trade as Italian PM heads to the White House.
PARIS — French Industry Minister Marc Ferracci warned Wednesday that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s upcoming trip to meet U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to undermine European unity against American tariffs.
« We need to be united because Europe is strong if it’s united, » Ferracci told broadcaster FranceInfo. « If we start having bilateral talks, of course it’ll break this momentum [on European unity]. »
The right-wing Meloni has presented herself as a possible bridge between Europe and the Trump administration, and will meet with the U.S. president at the White House on April 17.
But Ferracci argued that such a visit risks playing into Trump’s strategy, which the French minister claimed is aimed at preventing a united European response to the U.S. president’s severe tariff regime that has brought the world to the brink of an all-out trade war.
Trump imposed huge 20 percent tariffs on the European Union that took effect Wednesday, but by the evening he had announced a temporary pause in tariffs above 10 percent for most U.S. trading partners. On the same day, the bloc’s 27 countries agreed to apply retaliatory tariffs on nearly €21 billion of U.S. products like soybeans, motorcycles and orange juice.
Italy’s Europe minister, Tommaso Foti, was quick to react on Wednesday, accusing France of being hypocritical.
« How come when President Macron goes to Washington everything is OK, but when it is Meloni who goes, things are not OK?” he said, according to Italian media.
In a separate interview with French public television, Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad also stressed that Europe’s strength lies in its unity in response to a question about Meloni’s visit.
« If you go to the United States scattered and divided, do you think you’re stronger than if you go all 27, with 450 million people? » the French minister asked.
« We’ll see what [Meloni] has to say, » Haddad added about the Italian leader’s trip. « There can be discussions … However, it’s in our collective interest to have a united and firm response rather than divisions. »
French government spokesperson Sophie Primas said later Wednesday that Paris had no concerns about Meloni’s visit and welcomed all attempts to establish a dialogue with Trump.
Haddad also urged the Commission to trigger the bloc’s trade « bazooka » — the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) — which would empower the EU to hit U.S. service industries such as tech and banking.
« These tools were developed for this type of situation, » he said. « Let’s put them on the table … We’ll see what the Commission’s proposals are. »
Giorgio Leali contributed to this report.
