The President of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, estimates that eurozone exports affected by US tariffs have fallen by almost a fifth since the beginning of last year. In a speech in Normandy, she called for the completion of the single market for services and capital to sustain European competitiveness.
Eurozone companies have seen nearly a fifth of their exports subject to US tariffs decline since the beginning of last year. This was stated by the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, during a speech delivered this Saturday at the Fête de la Pomme in Épreville-en-Lieuvin (Normandy, France), according to the official publication of the institution.
Lagarde explained that this impact adds to the pressures already faced by European households due to rising energy and food prices, two of the main concerns for French citizens. The ECB President framed these pressures within a more volatile global context, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the largest energy shock since the 1970s, new US tariffs, and the conflict in the Middle East.
The speech had a strong local component. Lagarde, who grew up between the port of Le Havre and the plateau of the Pays de Caux, highlighted Normandy as an example of a region that takes advantage of the single market to export. Small businesses in Normandy exported goods worth nearly 10% of the regional GDP in 2022, above the national average, with the United States as their main destination.
In the case of Calvados, around half of the production was sold outside France last year, and seven out of ten exported bottles went to other EU countries. Lagarde noted that products with protected geographical indication sell on average at double the price of comparable products without it.
"I have never felt any contradiction in being Norman, French, and European at the same time"
The ECB President defended that the EU protects the uniqueness of each region and provides a broader stage. As an example, she cited the more than 1 billion euros in structural funds allocated to Normandy for the period 2021-2027, which helped expand the dock serving the offshore wind industry in Cherbourg and attract a turbine blade factory and around 800 jobs.
However, she warned that the single market is less developed in services than in goods. A bottle of Calvados travels through Europe tariff-free, but companies trying to sell cross-border services face internal barriers equivalent to tariffs of around 100%. Furthermore, since 2014, the obstacles to investing in another eurozone country have fallen half as much as those that exist for investing in the United States.
Lagarde presented these figures as the two major challenges for European prosperity: completing the integration of services and capital, and doing so in a world where openness exposes regions that trade the most. The speech did not include announcements of monetary policy or changes in interest rates.
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