Macron will raise his concern about US subsidies to the industry to Biden

The French President, Emmanuel Macronwill express to his American counterpart, Joe Bidenhis concern about the impact of US industrial subsidies and tax breaks during his visit to Washington next week, the French presidency said.

The leader of the second largest economy in the European Union (EU) will underline the risks for the European economy of the Inflation Reduction Law, which Biden signed in August, and hopes to obtain exemptions for the industrialists of the Old Continent penalized by this legislation, added.

The IRA law, for its acronym in English, includes a huge investment plan for some 370,000 million dollars to face the climate changebut also generous subsidies for electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy projects.

However, many of these subsidies will only be paid for products manufactured in the United States, which favors the purchase of cars, for example. Tesla Americans vs. BMW German electric companies, and the use of national steel for wind farm projects.

“We can imagine the US administration agreeing to exemptions for a certain number of European industries, perhaps based on the model that already applies to Mexico or Canada,” an adviser to the French presidency, who requested anonymity, told reporters.

The US initiative generated misunderstanding on the other side of the Atlantic and the French Finance Minister, Bruno the MayorHe even went so far as to ask the European Commission to prepare a “strong response”.

France advocates in turn for the Europeans to adopt a law similar to that of the United States. “We cannot risk further deindustrialization in Europe when our goal is precisely reindustrialization,” Macron’s adviser stressed.

The French president will arrive in Washington on Tuesday night, the eve of beginning his second official visit to the United States after the one made in April 2018 during the mandate of Donald Trump.

This is the first state visit organized by the Biden administration [para un dirigente extranjero]. It is very significant of the friendship between France and the United States”, estimates the Élysée.

This visit, more than a year after the Australian submarine crisis that strained relations between Paris and Washington, represents a “strong ambition” to “resynchronize” the relationship between Europe and the United States, which need to “come out stronger together from the Ukrainian crisis”.

In addition to a private dinner on Wednesday at the White House, a lunch organized by the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, and a state dinner are scheduled for Thursday.

After Washington, Emmanuel Macron plans to continue his journey in New Orleans.