France and Germany reject the agreement with Trump: the EU "resigns itself to submission"

BarcelonaThe first European reactions to the brand new tariff agreement that the European Union and the United States sealed this Sunday have not been positive. The enthusiasm of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the time of announcing the agreement – "We have achieved it and that is good, very good," she said yesterday from Turnberry, Scotland – has not only not spread among the member states, but the general reaction has been the opposite of the key points, even the "concluded" points of the main blocs.

The greatest exponent of the animosity towards the agreement has been France, one of the member states that has most stood up to the White House in the trade war. "It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, gathered to affirm their values and defend their interests, decides to submit," declared its Prime Minister, François Bayrou, through the social network X.

Bayrou thus surpassed the position of French Secretary of State for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad, who, also through X, had said that the trade agreement would bring temporary stability to threatened economic actors, but that "it is unbalanced." And he went further, calling for the activation of the European Anti-Coercion Instrument, a measure through which the EU, urgently and on a fast-track basis, can increase customs duties, restrict imports or exports, exclude some countries from participating in public tenders and, among other actions, suspend international obligations regarding intellectual property. In fact, France was the only country already betting on applying it immediately in the event that Trump did not sign an agreement.

Lukewarm reaction from Spain

For its part, the Spanish government has also publicly shown reluctance to the agreement, but without the vehemence of the two largest EU countries, reports Núria Rius Montaner"I support the trade agreement, but without any enthusiasm," stated Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at a press conference in Madrid. However, despite the lukewarm reaction, he did have words of praise for Brussels' negotiating stance: "I value the effort the EU has made" and "Von der Leyen's constructive attitude." Along the same lines, the President of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, said that the trade agreement creates "a framework of certainty" that is better than an uncertain environment, but that we will have to wait to see the fine print. He also said that the great lesson of US tariff policy is diversification.

This position, however, was not shared by Sumar, the PSOE's partner in the Spanish government: the Vice President of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, described the tariff agreement as a "magnificent mistake" and accused Von der Leyen of handing Europe over to the US. The United States is the sixth largest destination for Spanish exports, less than other European economies. Therefore, the Bank of Spain indicated in a statement on Tuesday that the tariffs will have "some negative impact on the economy," although less than in the eurozone.

In the continent's largest economy, Germany, which will likely be most affected by the trade consequences of the agreement, reactions have not been celebratory either. Although German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the agreement signed yesterday had managed to avoid a trade conflict that would have severely affected the German export-oriented economy, the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the main local industrial association, has also criticized the pact, which it has described as "inadequate." According to the organization, which represents one of the economic sectors most dependent on exports to the US in the entire EU, the agreement between Brussels and Washington sends "a fatal signal" to the European and American economies, according to the BDI. Financial Times.

Effects on metal and cars

The European steel industry association, Eurofer, has been harsher in its assessment of the agreement: it has said that it limits the damage under the current circumstances, but that the impact on European steel "remains dramatic." The tariff in force for this sector remains at 50%, as steel products were excluded from yesterday's agreement. However, the association warns that yesterday's agreement "represents an additional burden" because many European exports, such as vehicle machinery, are steel-intensive. And, in fact, this is one of the areas in which the German government sees room for further negotiation, according to German government deputy spokesperson Sebastian Hille, who also welcomed the reduction of tariffs on European cars from the current 27.5% to a general 15%. For the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), the agreement is a relief for the sector, given the potential tariff escalation in the absence of an agreement, but has called for the elimination of all trade barriers affecting the industry.

For Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the agreement is positive because it avoids a trade escalation between the EU and the US with "unforeseeable and potentially devastating consequences", and states that the 15% tariffs on European products are "sustainable". However, she added, in a press conference from Addis Ababa, the details of the agreement. The Prime Minister of Hungary, the ultra-nationalist Viktor Orbán, has said that Trump has "eaten Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast" by having negotiated a "worse" agreement than the one negotiated by London.

The European Parliament, against

The general discontent has also been felt in the European Parliament, with criticism from the European People's Party, the Social Democrats, and the Liberals, who see this agreement as a "severe blow to European industrial competitiveness," in the words of the EPP spokesperson, Jörgen Warborn. It is also seen as a worse agreement than the UK's, according to the Socialists' trade minister, Brando Benifei. And in the words of the Liberal president, Valérie Hayer, "a high price" is being paid for having a €50 billion trade surplus with the United States. "Delusional seems to be an accurate term to define the trade agreement," said Green co-chair Bas Eickhout on social media, while the president of the European Left, Manon Aubry, exclaimed: "Shame! The EU is surrendering to Trump and openly capitulating."

For the chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, Bernd Lange, there is a clear asymmetry in the agreement. "What is the price we are paying for this agreement? Many questions remain, and I will make sure that, whatever it thinks, Parliament gets answers to all of them [...]. Furthermore, if this agreement becomes binding commitments, the European Parliament and the Council will have the final say," he said in a statement.

Precisely, this is one of the great unknowns looming over the trade agreement, which for the moment is only an understanding between the two powers: it is not a trade treaty, which would be fully binding, but what is known as a joint agreement, which is a framework agreement. This text will be published by Friday at the latest, and will provide an overview of the next steps and the role of the Council and the European Parliament in its final approval.