French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday that France is a “firm and reliable ally” of the United States, but China’s involvement is necessary after controversial statements by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Bruno Le MairePhoto: Ludovic Marin / AFP / Profimedia Images

“We intend to remain strong and reliable allies of the United States of America. Don’t get it wrong,” said Bruno Le Maire, who attended the spring meetings in Washington of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, AFP and Agerpres reported.

“Before the trip to China, President Macron called on President Biden (…) to effectively coordinate the American and French positions on China,” the French minister emphasized.

President Macron has sparked a flurry of misunderstandings in the US and Europe by urging the European Union not to follow Washington or Beijing on Taiwan, a statement interpreted as distancing itself from Washington.

Asked about the topic, Bruno Le Maire said the priority was to “ask China to stop the escalation in Taiwan.”

From an economic point of view, he regretted the fact that “some (…) in the US believe that it will be necessary to completely separate the Western economy – American and European – from the Chinese economy”, in a context where “the volume of trade between China and The US has never been so high.”

“So Europe is being asked to abandon the trade that has grown between the US and China. We do not have the vocation to be a village idiot who allows himself to be deceived and allows other powerful people to do business,” he said.

According to data from the US Department of Commerce, exports and imports of goods and services between the US and China reached an all-time high in 2022. But China lost its position as the US’s largest trading partner to the European Union for the first time since the 2019 trade war.

France’s economy minister also believes it is necessary to continue to engage China, whether it is arms sales to Russia, the fight against climate change or debt restructuring for poor countries, a sector in which Beijing is one of the main creditors.