US-EU trade deal is ‘fiasco’ – Le Pen

The agreement is a “surrender” for French industry and the bloc’s energy and military sovereignty, the right-wing firebrand has said

The new EU-US trade agreement is an economic and political “fiasco” that undermines the bloc’s sovereignty, veteran right-wing French politician Marine Le Pen has said.

The agreement, finalized by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump on Sunday, averted a full-blown trade war between Washington and Brussels. Under its terms, the EU will commit to increased imports of US energy and military equipment, while the US reduces its proposed 30% tariffs to a flat 15% on most European exports.

Le Pen, a key member of France’s National Rally party, the largest opposition group in the National Assembly, condemned the deal, calling it “a political, economic and moral fiasco” for the EU.

”Politically, because the European Union, with 27 member states, obtained worse conditions than the United Kingdom,” she said, referring to the fact that the UK agreed to 10% tariffs – which was widely regarded as a bad deal.

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Le Pen also accused Brussels of accepting unequal terms on exporting American gas and weapons that she claimed no patriotic French government would have agreed to. “This is an outright surrender for French industry and for our energy and military sovereignty.”

She added that the deal sacrifices the interests of French farmers to benefit Germany’s automotive industry, pointing to “clauses forcing us to further open the single market to American agricultural products in exchange for reduced taxes on German automobile exports.”

“This globalization that denies and shatters sovereignty has been outdated for many years… The least that could be done is to acknowledge this stinging failure rather than asking the French, who will be its first victims, to rejoice in it.”

Le Pen’s criticism was echoed by former Belgian Prime Minister and MEP Guy Verhofstadt, who called the agreement “scandalous” and “a disaster,” which failed to secure any concessions from the American side.

Trump described the agreement as “probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity, trade or beyond trade.” Von der Leyen said the deal brings “certainty in uncertain times,” adding that a 15% rate “is the best we could get.”