G7 trade ministers opened a two-day meeting in Paris on Tuesday to map responses to pressing economic challenges including critical minerals supplies and industrial overcapacity, but organisers said they would not formally take up the latest US threat to hike tariffs on European vehicles.
The talks, scheduled to run through Wednesday, come as the Middle East war has disrupted global trade flows — including the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil — adding urgency to discussions on economic security and supply chains. While President Donald Trump’s Friday warning that he would raise US tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union has roiled diplomatic circles, French officials said that issue would be handled outside the formal G7 framework.
Paris has set four priorities for the ministerial agenda. Ministers are to seek collective approaches to industrial overcapacity, a problem that has long fuelled tensions over subsidisation — particularly in sectors where Chinese support has been cited as distorting trade. They will also focus on economic security, notably securing and diversifying supplies of critical minerals used in semiconductors, electric-vehicle batteries and high-performance magnets. France favours forming groups of producing, processing and consuming nations committed to shared best practices for those strategic inputs.
The battered World Trade Organization will also be on the agenda after the collapse in March of the latest WTO negotiations; Forissier’s office said the goal is to make the body more "suited to current challenges" after years in which the US has limited its role as the global trade referee. Ministers will additionally address the surge in cross-border e-commerce small parcels, which have often escaped customs duties and put local retailers at a competitive disadvantage.
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Bilateral talks in Paris are expected to touch on the tariff standoff. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was due to meet EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and French Economy Minister Roland Lescure. Speaking at an informal session hosted by France’s business community, Greer said the United States viewed "trade policy primarily as domestic policy" and characterised current US moves as a mix of unilateral action and co-operation "with willing partners." France’s junior trade minister Nicolas Forissier said earlier this week Europeans would discuss the US threat, but "not within the framework of the G7".
The tariff dispute traces back to a US-EU agreement reached last summer that limited US duties on EU autos and parts to 15 percent — below the 25 percent Trump has imposed on many other partners. The EU’s parliament approved the deal in late March with conditions, but it still requires sign-off by member states. Accusing the EU of failing to comply with the pact, Trump said on Friday he would raise vehicle tariffs in response, prompting diplomatic exchanges in Paris.
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Other practical measures expected to be reviewed include recent changes to small-parcel customs rules: the United States last year suspended its tariff exemption on parcels valued at under $800, while the EU plans this summer to introduce a flat-rate customs duty on packages valued at under €150 ($175). The ministerial meeting precedes the G7 leaders’ summit in Evian, scheduled for June 15–17, where trade issues and wider geopolitical tensions are likely to resurface at the head-of-state level.
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