Hold your ground. That’s France’s advice for the EU as Brussels mulls ways to placate Donald Trump, reports POLITICO.
The U.S. president has threatened tariffs against the bloc unless it buys more American fossil fuels. And EU officials are keen to engage, even readying a package of potential goodies for Trump.
But for Paris, that shouldn’t mean bending the knee.
“These negotiations are bound to be difficult given the positions expressed by the American president,” said French industry and energy minister Marc Ferracci, but “you can't go into a negotiation making concessions up front.”
“And above all, I don’t think we should give in to Donald Trump’s demands as a matter of principle,” he told POLITICO. “That’s my conviction.”
On Wednesday, EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič told the European Parliament that the European Commission was “ready to explore deeper EU-U.S. cooperation” including liquified natural gas (LNG) purchases and joint efforts to tackle China’s market-distorting practices.