Emmanuel Macron chose to be “direct” in the United States, where this Wednesday he lamented in Washington the “super aggressive” measures taken by Joe Biden to boost American industry and asked for more economic coordination on both sides of the Atlantic at the risk of “dividing the West”.
On the first day of an official trip to celebrate the french american friendshipthe French president did not hide his concern during a lunch with congressmen.
The massive subsidies included by Biden in an economic and social law called Inflation Reduction Law (IRA for its acronym in English) are “super aggressive for our companies,” claimed the French president.
“I don’t want to become a market for American products because I have exactly the same products as you. I have a middle class (that must) work and people that must find work. And the consequence of the IRA is that they may solve their problem, but they will make mine worse,” he said.
“Put yourself in my place,” he told them during this meeting dedicated to climate change and in which asked “to be respected as a good friend”.
France frowns on the economic protectionism of the Democratic president, who follows the motto “Made in USA” (Made in the USA).
Later, in a speech given at the embassy of France in WashingtonMacron insisted that the investment and grant program of the United States to help their companies can be a flash point in the US relations with Europe.
While expressing his support for the IRA’s environmental goals, Macron assured that “These are decisions that will divide the West”, pointing to the US legislators that “what has happened in recent months has been a challenge” for France.
Biden intends to boost, among others, the sector of the electric vehicles to promote industrial employment, the energy transition and technological competition with China.
The French president said that he does not believe “not for a second” that this law, considered crucial by the White Housebut advocated for better synchronization between the United States and Europe.
Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierrereiterated the position of Washingtonthat is to say that this law creates “significant opportunities for European companies and for the European energy security”.
France is a “vital ally of the United States,” the vice president told him hours before Kamala Harris During a meeting at the headquarters of the POTin which Macron described the space as “new place of international conflict”.
The alliance with the United States is “stronger than anything,” he assured the French community at the French embassy after visiting the Arlington National Cemeterywhere he made a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier and placed a white rose on that of Pierre Charles L’Enfantthe French architect who drew the plans for the American capital.
In the evening Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron met with Joe and Jill Biden for an intimate dinner, far from the pomp that the White House will display on Thursday, with a meeting at the oval office and a gala dinner.
(With information from AFP)
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Source-www.infobae.com