The European Union is "ready for a trade war" with the United States and will "attack American digital services." While the American president has just decided to increase customs duties on European products, the AU is preparing a two-stage response, announced French government spokesperson Sophie Primas. On RTL, she mentioned "a first response that will be effective by mid-April" and which will correspond to Donald Trump's "first attack" on aluminum and steel. The "second counterattack" will likely be ready to the end of April and will cover "all products and services".
What does the European Union want to tax?
Sophie Primas indicates that this second response is "currently being negotiated between the member countries of the European Union", but the government spokesperson insists on "digital services, such as GAFAM for example". Remember that the acronym GAFAM refers to large technology companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook (Meta), Apple, and Microsoft.
However, this new measure would not be limited to tech giants and could affect many other companies, including those that are not affected by the Digital Act Service. Until now, streaming services have been spared, but could become a prime target. Netflix has generated, alone, a turnover of 39 billion dollars in 2024 and 1.4 billion euros in 2023 in France.
Sophis Primas adds that it could also concern "access to our public markets." "We now have a whole range of tools and we are ready for this trade war," she specifies. This measure would be part of a strategy of commercial retaliation against what the EU considers an escalation of protectionism by the United States.
Negotiate with the United States... and enter into a power struggle with Donald Trump
Still speaking to RTL, the French government spokesperson assured that "we will continue to try to negotiate with the United States". However, the context has been tense since Donald Trump introduced high customs tariffs, reaching 20% for European products, and even up to 25% for specific sectors such as automobiles and aluminum. In response, the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, said that it was a "severe blow" to the global economy and that it was preparing a set of countermeasures in case negotiations with Washington fail.
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