Macron, Scholz Project United Front in Face of Trump Threats

Ania Nussbaum and Michael Nienaber

January 22, 2025 at 12:17 p.m.·3 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz called for unity and a stronger and more competitive European industry on Wednesday in the face of President Donald Trump’s threats to upend transatlantic ties.

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The embattled leaders of Europe’s two largest economies held talks in the French capital just days after Trump’s inauguration and mere hours after the US president renewed his tariff threats against China and the European Union.

Despite their many policy differences and weakened positions at home, the two heads of state tried to project strength, calling for a speedy and united response if the US follows through on threats to impose tariffs on European exports.

Bloomberg reported earlier that the EU has prepared a list of American companies to target with retaliatory duties if Trump does carry through with the threats.

The German chancellor stressed the need to protect the steel sector, which was targeted by tariffs during Trump’s first term, and called for a summit to address the issue.

“The steel sector is of strategic importance for the European economy and our security,” Scholz said in a press conference alongside Macron. “We therefore strongly urge the European Commission to organize a steel summit as a matter of urgency.”

The EU’s response to a resurgent China and an aggressive US has lacked steam as both leaders are politically weakened on their home turfs and have failed to see eye to eye on several policy files over the past three years.

Macron has faced extended political turmoil after he lost his relative majority in the French National Assembly last year on the back of snap elections, while German voters are poised to vote Scholz out of office next month, polls show.

The difficult dynamic between the two, due to their contrasting views and styles, has coincided with the EU navigating urgent issues, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a sputtering economy and high energy prices.

The bilateral talks between the leaders came a day after Trump again raised the issue of EU tariffs.

“Other countries are big abusers also, you know it’s not just China,” Trump said Tuesday. “We have a $350 billion deficit with the European Union. They treat us very very badly, so they’re going to be in for tariffs.”

Scholz’s plea on competitiveness echoes a letter by the European steel industry lobby where it requested a meeting with the head of the European Commission to discuss solutions to high raw material and energy prices, and cheap foreign steel imports flooding the market.

The chancellor also welcomed the Commission’s move to start a “strategic dialogue” with the European car industry to discuss, among other things, the suspension of EU fines for companies failing to meet climate protection targets and CO2 emission limits in their production fleets.

France has previously demanded that the EU reduce sanctions on automakers not complying with pollution rules. Both Paris and Berlin are also pushing for the EU to lower requirements from corporations on reporting their environmental and governance metrics.

“We’re defending simplification on as European a scale as possible,” Macron said, citing the sectors he deemed critical including automobiles, steel and chemicals.

“We urgently need to use all European instruments to ensure that our companies, such as farmers, enjoy fair conditions of competition in an increasingly brutal environment,” he said underscoring an uneven competitive environment for businesses.

While both Scholz and Macron pledged to continue cooperating with the US, Scholz regretted “how the extreme right is gaining ground everywhere in the western world, in western societies.”

“They want to drive us apart - and that is weakening Europe,” Scholz said.

The meeting in Paris marked the anniversary of the 1963 Elysee Treaty signed between post-World War II leaders Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle.