An employee works at the BMW manufacturing plant in Greer, South Carolina, U.S., October 19, 2022. /Reuters
An employee works at the BMW manufacturing plant in Greer, South Carolina, U.S., October 19, 2022. /Reuters
France's foreign minister voiced alarm Friday over a massive U.S. climate spending package, saying it risked unfair competition, but said Europe did not want a green trade war.
Parts of the U.S. President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which will pump $370 billion into green energy, "impact the level playing field between the U.S. and European actors," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
But asked if the tensions could fuel another trade rift along the lines of the long Boeing vs. Airbus showdown, Colonna said, "We are certainly not looking for any war."
Her remarks echo German and French economic ministers who this week at a meeting in Berlin called for a strong response from the European Union against state support for U.S. green businesses.
The U.S. package "must not destroy the level playing field between our two economies," warned German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Wednesday.
Habeck said companies are "drawn away from Europe to the U.S. because of the strong subsidies paid" under the Act.
Concern has been growing in Germany, a major automobile exporter, particularly over the planned U.S. tax credits for its domestic electric vehicle market.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned that the U.S. plans could lead to a "huge tariff war."
The warnings came as German car giant BMW announced a $1.7 billion investment in electric car production in the U.S., including a new battery assembly facility.
Read more: Yoon asks Biden to resolve Inflation Reduction Act concerns
(Source: AFP with edits)