French Minister on Trump’s EU Car Tariff Threat: Sticking to the Deal in Good Faith
EU-US Trade Deal and Tariff Dispute Overview
French Finance Minister’s Response to Tariff Threat
BRUSSELS, May 4 (Reuters) - The European Union has a trade deal with the United States that is going through the democratic process and the EU is willing to stick to it in good faith and, hopefully, United States is too, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said on Monday.
Lescure was responding to a question on U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement last Friday that he would increase tariffs on EU cars because the bloc was too slow to formalise the deal from mid-2025.
Commitment to the Democratic Process
"I want to look through the noise," Lescure told reporters before a monthly meeting of euro zone finance ministers.
"We have a deal, and that deal is in the process of being negotiated. It is also democratically examined by the European Parliament. We are willing to stick to this deal in good faith and we hope everyone else is in the same frame of mind," he said.
Ongoing Negotiations and Legislative Process
Representatives of the European Parliament and the Council, the body representing EU governments, will on Wednesday resume negotiations on legislation to lower EU duties on imported U.S. goods, with the EU assembly wanting to establish multiple safeguards.
Reactions from Other EU Finance Ministers
Germany's Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said the EU did not want to escalate the dispute and Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen, asked how the EU should respond, said commenting on that now would not help bring the deal across the line.
"People are working hard to finalise the deal," he said.
Reporting and Editorial Credits
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
