Macron calls tariffs imposed by powerful countries a form of 'blackmail'

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron flanked by French Presidency General Secretary Emmanuel Moulin and France's General Fabien Mandon attends a national security meeting on the crisis between Israel and Iran in the Jupiter room at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, June 22, 2025. His comments during a speech at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Spain, came with the European Union negotiating a trade deal with the United States ahead of a July 9 deadline, though he did not specifically refer to the United States or U.S. President Donald Trump. The United Nations trade agency had said the tariffs could have a catastrophic impact on developing countries, with some of the world's least developed, such as Lesotho, Cambodia, Laos, Madagascar and Myanmar, facing some of the highest levies.