PARIS, July 12. /TASS/. France shares the European Union’s disapproval of the United States’ 30% tariffs, French President Emmanuel Macron said, adding that the European Commission will speed up preparations of countermeasures.
"Along with the President of the European Commission, France shares the same very strong disapproval at the announcement of horizontal 30% tariffs on EU exports to the United States from August 1st," he wrote on his X page.
"With European unity, it is more than ever up to the Commission to assert the Union's determination to resolutely defend European interests," he emphasized. "In particular, this implies speeding up the preparation of credible countermeasures, by mobilizing all the instruments at its disposal, including anti-coercion, if no agreement is reached by August 1st."
Earlier in the day, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform a letter to the European Commission’s president notifying that starting on August 1, 2025, the United States "will charge the European Union a tariff of only 30% on EU products sent to the United States, separate from all sectoral tariffs," which are now stand at 10%.
According to Trump, there will be no tariffs if the EU begins manufacturing their products within the United States. He also warned that should the EU raise their tariffs in response, the United States will add to the 30% in plans to charge "whatever number" they "choose to raise them by."
On April 2, Trump announced tariffs on products from 185 countries and territories. Russia is not on the list. Universal tariffs of 10% took effect on April 5, and individual tariffs took effect on April 9. On the same day, the US leader announced that he would suspend additional reciprocal tariffs on a number of states and territories for 90 days. The White House explained that the pause was due to ongoing trade negotiations and that a general 10% tariff would be in effect during this period. On June 27, Trump clarified that the US would notify a number of countries, with which it would not sign separate agreements, about further conditions for bilateral trade within approximately a week and a half. These conditions include the tariff rates on goods they supply to the US market. The US administration began sending out these notifications several days ago.