France and Germany exhibited diverging strategies in the trade dispute between the EU and the US ongoing since mid-March, following a Council summit in Brussels on Thursday. While Germany is eager to reach a swift agreement at all costs, France emphasised the necessity that bloc should not display weakness.
In a press conference after the summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the Council encouraged the Commission to use the remaining two weeks to come to a swift agreement. But he said that the Council had encouraged von der Leyen to pursue the EU’s own countermeasures if necessary. He said it was important to conclude something quickly and flagged the risks to the auto, chemicals and pharma sectors if 9 July arrives and the Trump tariffs take effect.
“My hope is that we can reach a swift conclusion,” French President Emmanuel Macron said, adding: “However, this willingness should not be mistaken for weakness. We want to conclude quickly because it serves our collective interest, supports the stability of international trade, and benefits our businesses—but not at any price.”
On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised the Commission’s strategy as overly technical and called for accelerating the negotiations by focusing on strategic sectors such as automobiles, steel, and energy, chemicals and pharma.
The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and a 10% baseline on all EU imports.
Negotiations between the US and the EU have gained momentum since President Donald Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met at the G7 summit in Canada on 16 June, as the critical 9 July deadline approaches, after which Trump has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on all EU imports.
On Thursday evening, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced to EU member states that she had received a US counter-proposal to the EU’s offer, though she did not disclose any details.
For several months, the EU has been offering the US a zero-for-zero tariff deal on all industrial products, along with commitments to purchase strategic goods such as liquid natural gas and soybeans.
However, few believe that securing 0% tariffs from the US is still a realistic possibility. “Since they decided to impose multiple tariffs on their trade partners across the globe, the US now has an appetite for the revenue that tariffs generate,” an EU official said, implying that the US rejected the EU offer.
The Commission is now reconsidering its approach to a future tariff-based deal, though the specific terms have yet to be determined. “The prevailing assumption is that a 10% tariff might be the benchmark,” an EU diplomat said.
“On some areas 10% is not so much, the EU imposes 10% on a lot of imports of cars, whether they are Chinese or Japanese,” another EU official told Euronews, adding that “for other products, such as aircraft, it’s much more complicated because the production line is very interdependent between the US and the EU. That’s why, you need a granular analysis.”
If the EU manages to reach an agreement by 9 July, it will not be a comprehensive agreement, two senior EU diplomats said.
“The most realistic outcome would likely be a general framework or a “principled agreement”, due to time constraints,” an EU diplomat commented.
