France’s Sarkozy Urges Tax On US Goods If Trump Exits Paris Deal

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Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy suggested Europe impose a carbon tax on all U.S. products if President-elect Donald Trump pulled the country out of the Paris climate change agreement.

Over 100 countries have ratified the 2015 Paris deal to curb carbon emissions in an effort to tackle climate change. Trump, a climate change denier, promised to withdraw from the agreement during his campaign.

Speaking to French broadcaster TF1, Sarkozy said late Sunday: “Donald Trump has said – we’ll see if he keeps this promise -- that he won’t respect the conclusions of the Paris climate agreement. Well, I will demand that Europe put in place a carbon tax at its border, a tax of 1-3 percent, for all products coming from the United States, if the United States doesn’t apply environmental rules that we are imposing on our companies.”

Sarkozy, who is running for presidency again, also reportedly warned that Europe cannot afford to be “weak” or “naïve” when it comes to free movement of people and trade, referring to Trump’s promises of putting the American worker first and preventing jobs from going to foreign employees.

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