The president of Medef, the leading French employers' organization, Patrick Martin, assessed on Thursday evening that "hundreds of thousands of jobs" in France are potentially at risk from the tariff measures announced by Donald Trump, but he hopes that the US president will be "discouraged" from implementing them.
The increase in tariffs will affect France's gross domestic product (GDP), threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs and displace entire chains in the aeronautics or automotive industries, Martin said.
"These measures, if implemented, will be extremely disruptive for France and Europe and will require strong reactions," Martin said after a meeting at the Elysee Palace with French President Emmanuel Macron, several ministers and representatives of several economic sectors.
Martin assessed that France needs to be "very firm and very pragmatic" and added that it is necessary to reassure the Trump administration as much as possible.
The US is France's fourth largest export market, behind Germany, Italy and Belgium.
Among the most exposed sectors are aeronautics, with nine billion euros in 2024, representing a fifth of French exports to the US, followed by luxury goods and spirits, especially cognac.
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