Emmanuel Macron. Photo credit: Ludovic Marin / AFP / Profimedia
The “commercial war” imposed by Donald Trump is “an aberration” in “this moment of the life of the planet” because he “kills” the poor and emerging countries, said French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday at a UN Development Financing Conference, AFP reports.
“The restoration of the commercial war and the customs tariffs at this time of the life of the planet is an aberration,” the French president said at a United Nations Conference, in Seville, southern Spain.
“Customs taxes kill the poor and emerging countries!”, The French president insisted, referring to the American tariffs that threaten, for example, Vietnam or Madagascar.
“Let's be clear, we kill them under the pretext of rebalancing trade”, when, in fact, “the main imbalances are between China and the United States,” the “great culprits” of this “scandal,” he said.
Macron appreciated that it is necessary to rethink the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to “align with our goals in the fight against inequalities” and with “our climatic objectives”.
“But we must restore freedom, equity in international trade, much more than barriers and tariffs, which are designed by the most powerful and which are often used as blackmail tools, not as rebalancing tools,” said the French president.
