Meloni’s solo Trump visit triggers anxiety in France

PARIS — French Industry Minister Marc Ferracci warned Wednesday that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s upcoming trip to meet U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to undermine European unity against American tariffs.

"We need to be united because Europe is strong if it's united," Ferracci told broadcaster FranceInfo. "If we start having bilateral talks, of course it'll break this momentum [on European unity]."

The right-wing Meloni has presented herself as a possible bridge between Europe and the Trump administration, and will meet with the U.S. president at the White House on April 17.

But Ferracci argued that such a visit risks playing into Trump's strategy, which the French minister claimed is aimed at preventing a united European response to the U.S. president's severe tariff regime that has brought the world to the brink of an all-out trade war.

Trump has imposed huge 20 percent tariffs on the European Union, and the European Commission is currently considering slapping tariffs of up to 25 percent on a broad range of exports from the United States.

In a separate interview with French public television, Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad also stressed that Europe's strength lies in its unity in response to a question about Meloni's visit.

"If you go to the United States scattered and divided, do you think you're stronger than if you go all 27, with 450 million people?" the French minister asked.

"We'll see what [Meloni] has to say," Haddad added about the Italian leader’s trip. "There can be discussions ... However, it's in our collective interest to have a united and firm response rather than divisions."

Haddad also urged the Commission to trigger the bloc's trade "bazooka" — the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) — which would empower the EU to hit U.S. service industries such as tech and banking.

"These tools were developed for this type of situation," he said. "Let’s put them on the table ... We'll see what the Commission's proposals are."