PARIS: French firms should show "patriotism" by not giving an advantage to the United States in an escalating trade conflict, the economy minister said on Friday, after President Emmanuel Macron urged companies to suspend American investments in response to Donald Trump's tariffs.
Macron on Thursday argued it would send the wrong message if French companies pressed ahead with investments in the United States until further clarifications come from Washington over Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs.
"We are appealing to patriotism," Eric Lombard told the BFMTV channel.
As negotiations with the Americans on the tariffs begin, "it is clear that if a large French company agrees to open a factory in the United States, it would give the Americans a point" in their favour, he said.
With Paris insisting that the response needs to come on a European level, Lombard said the EU's retaliation would not necessarily involve tit-for-tat tariffs and could use other tools. He pointed to standards, data exchange and tax as levers that could be used.
"We will respond to a set of products that do not risk disrupting the value chain in Europe," he said.
"The response can be very strong but we should not respond with exactly the same weapons the US used as, if we do, it can also have a negative effect in Europe," he said, with possible consequences including inflation and a drop in growth.
The US President on Wednesday imposed sweeping new levies on US trading partners, including a 20 percent tariff on imports from the European Union.
"Future investments, investments announced in the last weeks, should be suspended for a time for as long as the situation with the United States is not clarified," Macron told a meeting of French companies in response.
"What would be the message if big European actors invest billions of euros in the US economy at the very moment they are hitting us?" he asked.
French sectors ranging from aerospace to luxury goods and wine risk taking a hit due to the tariffs.
Direct French investments in the United States were worth $370 billion in 2023, making it the fifth-biggest foreign investor in the country, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
