France wants EU to stop funding Chinese and US factories

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he would lobby the European Union (EU) to ensure funding for factories on the continent instead of manufacturing facilities in China and the United States.

Speaking at a presentation to the Council of Ministers on France's 2024 budget on September 27, Le Maire pledged to push for changes to the rules before next year's European Parliament (EP) elections to reserve public funds for industrial products with at least 50% European-made components.

He said the Chinese government would not want to provide aid for an industrial product that did not contain Chinese-made components, and similarly, US President Joe Biden would not provide federal aid for a pickup truck that did not contain 60% or 70% American-made components.

With this argument, the French finance minister complained that only in Europe do policymakers think it is possible to continue investing public funds in European factories as much as in American and Chinese factories.

“Stop this policy, this political choice, support European industry,” Mr. Le Maire said.

However, Mr. Le Maire himself admitted when attending the China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue in Beijing at the end of July that the separation between the US, European and Chinese economies is "unlikely".

World - France wants EU to stop funding Chinese and American factories — Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire attend the China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, July 29, 2023. Photo: Al Arabiya

At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for a tougher approach to trade with China, calculating that inaction now would put the EU economy on a path of long-term damage.

Earlier this month, Brussels announced an investigation into Chinese electric car subsidies — a move that German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said could lead to a trade war that would quickly spread to other sectors and cause major economic damage. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, on the other hand, welcomed the move, saying the EU would have to act if the investigation uncovered major violations of competition rules.

China has called the EU investigation protectionist, warning that it will damage bilateral economic relations.

For its part, France is studying changes to the “bonus” for domestic electric car buyers under current EU regulations, which would give state support to the vehicles with the lowest carbon emissions, in line with President Macron’s climate plan .

Minh Duc (According to Bloomberg, France24)

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