“Three avenues for reconciling globalization and independence”

Losses and profits. It started with the masks, then the respiratory ventilators, the tests, the vaccines… Now that we see the end of the tunnel, attention is focused on the missing microchips, and even the steel. Each time, we promise to repatriate production to France for more security. However, the fact of having vaccine producers in our territory did not prevent us from having to buy them abroad. Globalization has saved us from scarcity. A note from the Economic Analysis Council (CAE), published Thursday, April 22, conveniently refocuses this debate on economic independence, and offers some interesting avenues.

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First, globalization does not weaken our supplies. On the contrary, it makes it possible to diversify them and, therefore, to reduce our dependence on a single supplier. On the other hand, it encourages sectoral specialization, which is favorable to purchasing power, by lowering prices, but introduces new vulnerabilities. They can be geographical – China extracts 90% of the rare earths in the world – or economic, when a single company monopolizes the manufacture of a key component, as in the case of microchips.

Diversify sources of supply

Second, not all vulnerabilities are created equal. Whether the production of jeans, umbrellas or video consoles is highly concentrated does not undermine a country’s sovereignty. For antibiotic components it is different. It is therefore necessary to identify sectors that are both vulnerable and strategic. This is what the CAE did, by analyzing customs statistics and isolating 644 vulnerable products manufactured outside Europe (4% of our imports) and within this category, 122 sensitive products. They are essentially raw materials and chemical or biological products. We can see that a third of our dependence comes from the United States and only 15% from China.

Finally, you have to choose the right strategy. In other words, diversify sources of supply when possible, or build up stocks when this is not possible. And finally, to concentrate national production and innovation efforts on goods with high added value in areas deemed strategic where France can claim global competitiveness (aeronautics, automotive, nuclear, agrifood, health, materials, etc.) . Priorities that appear in the French recovery plan. This is already a start.