Macron says US and EU are wasting time on tariff threats as Trump fumes over Germany

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BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe and the United States have more important things to do than waste time on tariff threats, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced higher duties on European vehicles.

Trump said on Friday that he would increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union this week to 25%, a move that could further harm the global economy as it reels from war in the Middle East.

“Especially in the geopolitical period we are experiencing, allies like the United States of America and the European Union have much better things to do than to stir up threats of destabilization,” Macron told reporters in Armenia.

“For our businesses, our households, our populations, we should rather send a message of stability and confidence,” Macron said. He added that he hoped “reason will prevail soon.”

EU and U.S. trade officials were due to meet in Paris on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

Trump accused the EU of “not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal,” without elaborating.

The threat of tariffs comes as Trump fumes over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said the U.S. has been humiliated by Iran in talks to end the war. Germany is a major automobile manufacturer, and higher tariffs would damage its industry.

Trump has since threatened to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany.

Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to a trade deal in July 2025 that set a tariff ceiling of 15% on most goods, though the U.S. Supreme Court this year ruled against the legal authority that Trump had used to charge that tax.

Asked at the EU-Armenia summit in Yerevan on Tuesday about the threat of another tariff hike, von der Leyen said: “A deal is a deal, and we have a deal. And the essence of this deal is prosperity, common rules and reliability.”

The commission, the EU’s executive branch, negotiates trade on behalf of the 27 member countries. Von der Leyen said that “we are prepared for every scenario” if things go wrong.

Macron insisted that agreements must be respected. “If they were challenged again, it would reopen everything,” he said, and warned that “the European Union has instruments that would then need to be activated.”

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Masha Macpherson in Paris contributed.