PARIS (Reuters) – French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said it was naive and dangerous to think China could replace the United States as a trade partner, and urged European Union (EU) members to stick together in the current climate of global trade tensions.
“The idea that the United States could be replaced by China is a terribly dangerous idea,” Bayrou told reporters on Friday during a visit to a fair for cheese and wine.
President Xi Jinping told Spain’s prime minister on Friday that China and the EU must join together in defending globalisation and opposing “unilateral acts of bullying,” in a clear swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
TRUMP’S EARTHQUAKE
Bayrou also urged the EU to show solidarity in the face of the uncertainty triggered by Trump.
“When the President of the United States raises tariffs, it is an earthquake but when the President of the United States 48 hours later drops tariffs, it is another earthquake,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, President Emmanuel Macron said Trump’s decision this week for a 90-day suspension on tariffs he had imposed on countries gave room for only a ‘fragile pause’.
“The partial suspension of American tariffs for 90 days sends out a signal and leaves the door open for talks. But this pause is a fragile one,” Macron wrote on X.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Sharon Singleton, Philippa Fletcher)
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