Le Pen describes US-EU trade deal as ‘fiasco’
(MENAFN) French right-wing leader Marine Le Pen has denounced the newly finalized EU-US trade agreement as a major failure, claiming it compromises the European Union's sovereignty both economically and politically.
The deal, reached between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump on Sunday, helped avert a potential trade war by lowering proposed US tariffs on European exports from 30% to a flat 15%. In return, the EU agreed to increase imports of American energy and military goods.
Le Pen, a prominent figure in France’s National Rally party—the largest opposition group in the National Assembly—condemned the agreement as “a political, economic, and moral fiasco.” She argued that the EU, representing 27 nations, walked away with worse terms than the UK, which had previously accepted a 10% tariff rate widely criticized as unfavorable.
She further criticized Brussels for yielding to unfair terms that would increase French dependence on American gas and weapons, something she claimed a patriotic French government would never accept. “This is a clear defeat for French industry and for our energy and defense independence,” she stated.
Le Pen also accused the EU of sacrificing French agriculture to protect Germany’s car industry, highlighting provisions that open the single market further to American agricultural products in exchange for reduced tariffs on German cars.
Calling the agreement a relic of outdated globalization, she said it disregards national sovereignty and will ultimately harm the French people.
Her criticism was supported by former Belgian Prime Minister and European Parliament member Guy Verhofstadt, who labeled the deal “scandalous” and “a disaster” for failing to secure meaningful compromises from the US.
In contrast, President Trump hailed the deal as possibly “the biggest ever,” while von der Leyen described it as providing “certainty in uncertain times,” noting that 15% tariffs were “the best we could get.”
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