French President Emmanuel Macron has insisted that countries avoid signing trade deals with any other country which refuses to abide by the Paris Climate Accord – of which the US is not a signatory, according to The Independent.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Macron said that France will no longer accept “commercial agreements” with countries that do not “respect” the global warming accord.
The French president called for the upholding of trade rules that “guarantee fair competition on equal footing” during his Tuesday speech, following a Monday afternoon meeting with Donald Trump and the US president’s speech on Monday morning. Mr Macron appeared defiant towards Mr Trump, suggesting he’d no longer negotiate trade deals with the US after its withdrawal from the climate agreement last year.
“We will no longer sign commercial agreements with powers that do not respect the Paris accord,” Mr Macron said without directly referencing Mr Trump or the US. –Independent
The Independent notes that the US is reportedly the only nation in the world which remains opposed to the Paris agreement, following Trump’s decision to pull out of it last year.
Macron also took a shot at Trump’s “America First” policies, suggesting that international superpowers should pursue peaceful resolutions to global issues, from Iran’s nuclear program to the Syrian conflict.
“As I was saying a year ago, today we should not aggravate regional tensions but rather through dialogue and multilateralism pursue a broader agenda that allows us to address all the concerns caused by Iranian policies,” Macron said Monday, adding “nuclear, ballistic, regional.”
He also criticised the president’s decision to pull out of the Iran Nuclear deal, touting its success in preventing the country’s “nuclear military path”.
“What will bring a real solution to the situation in Iran and what has already stabilised it? The law of the strongest? Pressure from only one side? No!“ he said. “We know that Iran was on a nuclear military path but what stopped it? The 2015 Vienna accord.”
The speech deeply contrasted that of Mr Trump, who spoke on Monday about “America’s policy of principled realism,” while criticising components of the United Nations. –Independent
“We will not return to the Human Rights Council until real reform is enacted. We will also not provide any support to the International Criminal Court,” said Trump, adding that “the ICC has no authority. It violates all principles of justice and due process.”
“We will never surrender America’s sovereignty,” Trump said. “We reject the ideology of globalism. America is governed by Americans.”
TRUMP: “Moving forward, we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends… I have told our negotiators that the United States will not pay more than 25% of the UN Peacekeeping budget.” pic.twitter.com/Gchq8EuNSw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2018