“There is no hesitation when it comes to defending our interests,” Jean-Noel Barrot said in an interview with TF1 after US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that Washington will move this week to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

Asked whether France and the EU would retaliate against the measures announced by Trump, Barrot said: “Of course. It’s not a surprise. This is already what Donald Trump did in 2018” (during his first term as president).

“At that time we replicated. So we will replicate again this time,” he said.

Asked what measures of retaliation would be agreed, Barrot replied that it was up to the European Commission to decide what sectors would be targeted.

“No one has an interest in entering into a trade war with the EU,” he warned.

The tariffs on steel and aluminium imports were the latest in a slew of trade levies the US leader has announced that have raised fears of a global trade war.

French president Emmanuel Macron told CNN that the EU should not be a “top priority” for the US after Trump’s repeated threats to target the bloc.

“Is the EU your first problem? No, I don’t think so. Your first problem is China, so you should focus on the first problem,” he said, adding that the EU must be ready to react to US actions.