France Looks to Deepen Trade Ties With Russia and China - Polidicks

[img]https://i.imgur.com/It79tIQ.jpg?1[/img] [QUOTE]Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview France was looking to China and Russia to act as a counterweight to increasingly uncertain trade relations with the U.S. and Britain. The remarks are a sign of how European powers are reassessing ties that have underpinned their economies since the end of World War II following the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union and the rise of U.S. President Donald Trump and his America First agenda. “We are moving from a world dominated by very exclusive trans-Atlantic relations toward a rebalancing,” Mr. Le Maire told The Wall Street Journal during a two-day trip to Moscow in December. France is aiming to build a trade “backbone” that runs from Europe to Beijing via Moscow, Mr. Le Maire said. French President Emmanuel Macron plans to launch this effort when he makes his first visit to China in January and attends the St. Petersburg International Financial Congress—Russia’s answer to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland—in May. he sheer scale of France’s trade with the U.S. and the U.K., however, makes it difficult to replace with partners to the east. Trade with the U.S. and Britain totaled €119.5 billion ($142.8 billion) in 2016, compared with a total €79.1 billion with China and Russia. The Macron government’s move to broaden its trade horizons is fueled by a growing rift between Europe and Washington. In December, Mr. Le Maire and four other European finance ministers wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to voice concerns that the overhaul of corporate tax law would give U.S. firms unfair tax advantages and discourage them from investing in Europe. “The U.S. is a close ally and Europe’s principal trading partner, but we can clearly see the difficulties,” Mr. Le Maire said. “Writing this letter is not mundane. It’s the mark of a Europe that is becoming aware of the necessity to affirm its power.” The finance minister also criticized Washington for maintaining the threat of “extraterritorial sanctions”—laws that allow Washington to penalize foreign companies with U.S. operations for doing business in Russia. The sanctions were proposed by Congress but criticized by Mr. Trump.[/QUOTE] [URL="https://www.wsj.com/articles/france-looks-to-deepen-trade-ties-with-russia-and-china-1514808000"]Source[/URL].

this must be those trade opportunities they were on about with brexit hohohoho

Not sure how I feel about his. Russia, sure we should try to work with our neighbour despite the differences but China? I don't see any free trade deal with China being without major issues, the Chinese steel debacle should have been lesson enough.

[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;53022199]Not sure how I feel about his. Russia, sure we should try to work with our neighbour despite the differences but China? I don't see any free trade deal with China being without major issues, the Chinese steel debacle should have been lesson enough.[/QUOTE] I am worried about the opposite. With a good enough trade contract, chinese trade relationships will be profitable for both sides. But trade deals with Russia could be cancelled any minute due to pressure from other trade partners (I mean, Mistral incident already happened once, what are the odds of it being repeated?)