France’s Le Maire says EU must ‘stop’ aiding China, US factories

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he will campaign for the European Union to ditch its state-aid dogma to ensure funds go to supporting factories on the continent instead of production in China and the US.

Speaking at the presentation of France’s 2024 budget, he pledged to push for a revision of rules ahead of EU Parliament elections next year to reserve public money for industrial products with at least 50% of European components.

“Do you think for a second that it would cross the mind of the Chinese government to grant aid to an industrial product that didn’t have Chinese parts in it?” Le Maire said. “Do you think for a moment that Joe Biden would grant federal aid to an American pickup that didn’t contain 60% or 70% of American products?”

The minister said it’s only in Europe that policymakers think it’s possible to continue putting public money into European factories as much as American and Chinese ones.

“I’m saying stop,” Le Maire said. “Stop this policy, this political choice, let’s favor European industry.”

President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for a tougher approach to trade with China, calculating that inaction now would put the bloc’s economy on a path to long-term damage. Earlier this month, Brussels announced a probe into Chinese electric-car subsidies, dealing a blow to Beijing’s strategy of courting the EU as a counter to Washington.

France is already working on changes to bonuses for electrical vehicle purchases within the framework of current EU rules. The new French system would reserve state support for vehicles with the lowest carbon footprint, effectively excluding many cars made in China, though not explicitly.

“We had to do something very complicated when we could have done something very simple,” Le Maire said. “To be simple, we must change European policy and change European dogma.”