France's Macron calls on EU businesses to interrupt US investments

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked companies to wait investments in the US after President Donald Trump announced rates on the European Union and other regions. Macron said it was little sense of businesses to invest there while the US was catching up against Europe, Macron said and spoke before a meeting with representatives of operational groups affected by rates. “What would be the message to have big European players investing billions of rands in the US economy, at the same time we hit,” Macron said. “We must have collective solidarity.” Trump, who spoke from the White House on Wednesday, announced a 20% tariff on the EU imports, which will come into effect on April 9. He repeated his claim that the 27 member states call “rip us off” and “pathetic”. The US president has named French maritime company CMA CGM SA and Marmer Stellantis NV as companies that recently invested in the US, thanks to him. The French shipping giant said last month that it would invest $ 20 billion in the US to develop maritime infrastructure. In 2023, the French direct investment in the US reached $ 370 billion, with 1% in one year, according to the latest data published by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The French president meets with representatives of the business sectors hit by the import tariffs, including Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, CEO of Safran SA, Olivier Andries, CEO of Pernod Ricard SA, Alexandre Ricard and Rodolphe Sade of CMA CGM SA. Earlier on Thursday, Macron spokesman Sophie Primas said that Paris wanted to retaliate the European Union against US technical enterprises and expand the measures to the service sector. Macron also said that the EU should not stay away from a strong response to US rates. He suggested the possibility of using the EU’s anti-cargo instrument and striking US digital services, as well as ‘financing mechanisms for the US economy’. The EU’s anti-wrenching measure is the most powerful trading tool designed to take back against countries that use trade and economic measures coercion. This would be an escalation that could aggravate the tension, following the announcement of Trump’s announced rates, which he believes will help bring work to the US and increase growth. Macron insisted that any EU reaction should be coordinated at the block level, adding that he spoke to EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen earlier Thursday. © 2025 Bloomberg MP This article was generated from an automatic news agency feed without edits to text. Catch all the business news, corporate news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. Business NewscompaniesNewsfrance’s Macron calls on EU businesses to make our investments wait less