PARIS: French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said US President Donald Trump's global trade tariffs could cost France more than 0.5% of its GDP, in an interview released Saturday.
Trump's tariffs against numerous countries raised fears of a general trade war and recession, sending stock markets plunging after they were unleashed on Wednesday.
In the case of France, the duties could shave off a whole half-point of output, the centrist premier was quoted as saying in Sunday's edition of the newspaper Le Parisien.
“The risk of job losses is absolutely major, as is that of an economic slowdown, or a halt in investment,“ he said.
A 10-percent “baseline” tariff came into force on Saturday and on April 9 around 60 trading partners, including the European Union, are set to face even higher rates.
“The destabilisation he has caused will weaken the global economy for a long time to come,“ Bayrou said, adding that such economic uncertainty could threaten France's efforts to lower its deficit.
Bayrou said he will share on April 15 the “general framework” of the choices to be made for the 2026 budget.
“The French must be involved in two necessities: finding the means for our independence, our security, our defence, and first of all our production capacity,“ he said.
Earlier on Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed that “a trade war was in nobody’s interests” but that “nothing was off the table” regarding their response to the tariffs.
