- France’s Macron meets Biden for state visit Dec. 1
- The US subsidy package is a major transatlantic irritant
- French officials see cooperation on China, Russia, energy
PARIS, Nov 25 (Portal) – French President Emmanuel Macron will be received by US President Joe Biden next week on a rare state visit aimed at promoting Franco-American friendship rather than bitter economic competition between the two sides of the pond to highlight.
More than a year after Washington, London and Canberra torpedoed a major French submarine deal and brought Franco-US relations to a breaking point, the two countries are expected to show unity in the face of shared threats from Russia and China.
But the elephant in the Oval Room will be the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Europeans say the massive subsidy package for US manufacturers could deal a fatal blow to their industries, which are already suffering from high energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Macron will try to convince the United States that it is in its interest not to weaken European companies while Western allies face intense economic competition from China, which he says is using its economic power as diplomatic leverage.
“The pitch will be: there is obviously a Chinese challenge and we can help bring others in the EU out of their naivety. But you cannot ask us to help with China and do an IRA on us,” a French diplomat told Portal on condition of anonymity.
The French leader will try to negotiate exemptions for European companies on the model that Mexico and Canada already have, an adviser to the French president has said.
German automakers, for which the US is a big export market, are among the biggest victims of the IRA package that subsidizes US-made electric cars, the French president said. French automakers don’t export to the US, but France has major auto parts suppliers that would be affected.
Energy issues will also figure prominently in the White House talks, with France hoping to strengthen cooperation on nuclear energy. Macron wants France to build more nuclear reactors but is struggling with corrosion problems at its aging facilities.
French energy supplier EDF (EDF.PA) has seconded hundreds of skilled workers, including welders, from US nuclear power plant maker Westinghouse to fix problems at French nuclear power plants and avoid blackouts in Europe this winter.
Macron will also travel to Louisiana, ostensibly to pay tribute to the state’s French heritage but also to discuss energy issues, the French presidential aide said.
French oil giant TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) owns a major liquefied natural gas terminal in the Gulf state, and Macron, who has complained about high prices for US gas exports, said he will raise the issue with Biden bring.
“The United States produces cheap gas but sells it to us at a high price,” Macron told French executives Nov. 8. “And on top of that, they have massive subsidies in some sectors that make our projects uncompetitive.”
“I think that’s unkind and I’m going to go to Washington at the end of the month in a spirit of friendship … to just plead for a level playing field,” he said.
Reporting by Michel Rose; additional reporting by John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau; Editing by Philippa Fletcher
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