French PM Bayrou: Trump 'unleashed a cyclone' on world trade

French prime minister François Bayrou says U.S. President Donald Trump "unleashed a cyclone" on world trade with the announcement of sweeping tariffs earlier this month.

The comments came as Bayrou discussed the state of the global economy in a speech in Paris on Tuesday.

He earlier held a crisis meeting with ministers focused on debating remedies for the struggling French economy.

The French premier painted a gloomy picture of the state of French finances, saying that the size of the national debt is equivalent to each French person owing $56,000 to their bank. 

Bayrou said that "reindustrialization must become an obsession for us" and that the credibility and very survival of France is at play if the country does not get a handle on its economy.

He said the country needs to be "less expensive and more efficient", arguing that the country would have a "mountain of difficulty to climb..

Bayrou added that "our debt is increasing too quickly… and our room for manoeuvre is reducing."

French public debt rose to $3.7 trillion by the end of the third quarter of 2024, or 113.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the French national statistics institute.

France also has a public deficit - meaning it spends more than it brings in. In 2024, the deficit measured $193 billion, or 5.8 percent of GDP.

Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of the biggest opposition party, the hard-right National Rally, criticised François Bayrou's speech as "not up to the level of the grave crisis", saying her party would "not support measures against the French people."

Sophie Binet, leader of one of France's biggest unions, the CGT, said the prime minister's speech was "propaganda" that would increase anxiety among the public.

Bayrou says his government will propose new economic measures to confront the crisis before France's national day, July 14.