Interview with Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, conducted by Roula Khalaf, Patrick Jenkins and Olaf Storbeck on 25 November 2024

28 November 2024

You said recently that the geopolitical landscape was fragmenting into rival blocs where attitudes towards free trade were being called into question. The US election accelerates this trend. Looking forward, what are your expectations, particularly in terms of tariffs?

President-elect Donald Trump has clearly announced last week the magnitude of tariffs that he has in mind: 60% for China, 10-20% for the rest of the world. But he has not been very specific about the scope and the basis on which those tariffs would apply. That’s a really interesting area for clarification and better understanding. Tariffs applied on a broad, undiscriminating basis produce certain effects. But very selective, targeted tariffs will produce a different effect. Going forward, the scope of the tariffs will be really interesting to appreciate. It’s one…