For his part, Bruno Le Maire said he feared that the American investment plan would run “the risk of a major industrial shock on French and European industry”.
The specter of a trade war between the European Union and the United States? French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire and European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton both attacked the “Inflation Reduction Act(IRA) American, a vast investment plan promulgated in August, which envisages massive subsidies with the industrial companies of the country.
“I sounded the alarm bell because I see the impact of this famous IRA, which was put on the table by the Americans, 367 billion dollars of subsidies proposed in gigantic proportions, (…) which creates a real element of distortion of competition“, accused Thierry Breton on BFM Business this Monday morning.
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The European Commissioner for the Internal Market assured that he was in phase with Bruno Le Maire on the subject. “He is totally right“, he declared, questioned on the remarks of the French Minister of the Economy in The echoes. In an interview published this Monday in the economic daily, as well as in three other European newspapers (Handelsblatt, El Mundo and Corriere della Sera)the Bercy tenant judged that the “grant race” was “contrary to all rules of international trade“. “I call for a coordinated, united and strong response from the European Union vis-à-vis our American allies. Only firmness will allow us to obtain results“, he added.
“Risk of a major industrial shock”, according to Le Maire
On RMC / BFMTV this Monday morning, Bruno Le Maire drove the point home, speaking of “grant opportunities for companies that are totally exorbitant“. “I think we have to say in a friendly but clear way to our American partners: this is not acceptable, this poses a major difficulty for us“, he insisted. Added to soaring energy prices, “all of this puts us at risk of a major industrial shock to French and European industry“, alerted the number two of the French government.
Bruno Le Maire gave some figures to assess the importance of American subsidies. “In some cases, the amount of grants the Biden administration is offering is four to ten times the maximum amount allowed by the European Commission. In France, our first estimates indicate that 10 billion in investments and thousands of industrial jobs are at stake.“, he told the echoes. According to the Minister,certain large foreign companies, which wanted to set up in Europe, are now hesitating between European sites and American sites“.
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Bruno Le Maire wanted to be vague on the responses that the EU could provide to the American plan. “We expect firm and proportionate proposals from the European Commission, did he declare. This may involve a stricter affirmation of our environmental interests, European preference measures or the acceleration of the use of the reciprocity instruments that we have put in place under the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, such as third country state aid control regulation.”
Thierry Breton was more offensive. Referring to the letter of injunction sent Friday by the Twenty-Seven to the United States, asking them to withdraw from their law nine measures deemed “discriminatory“, and for some contrary to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Commissioner said he hoped that Washington “rule» these dots. Otherwise, “we will have to go to the WTO and we will consider retaliatory measures“, he said.
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