He commented on US President Donald Trump’s decision to sign a proclamation imposing 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent duties on aluminium imports.
"France regrets announcements of Donald Trump on steel and aluminium tariffs. There are only losers in a trade war. With our EU partners, we will assess consequences on our industries and agree appropriate response," Le Maire tweeted.
EU trade policy chief Cecilia Malmstrom called on the United States to exempt the bloc from tariffs or face duties on multiple US imports, such as peanut butter.
"Our view is, yes, we can deal multilaterally with the overproduction of steel but this is the wrong way to go about it. Protectionism, tariffs never really work," Liam Fox said on a BBC show.
The tariffs go into effect in 15 days and will initially exclude Canada and Mexico.