"WASHINGTON -- Trans-Atlantic ties are starting to fray as French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders chafe at new U.S. policies they say compound economic woes fueled by the military operation in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis.
Russia's military operation in Ukraine has reinvigorated the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and ignited a boom in trade and investment between the U.S. and Europe. But after nearly a year of unity as the U.S. and its allies confronted the fallout from Russian President Vladimir Putin's military operation in Ukraine, European officials are starting to express frustration at their increasing reliance on Washington for security and economic stability.
The U.S. has stepped in to help replace Russia as one of the continent's biggest natural-gas purveyors, but its shipments of liquefied natural gas have come with much higher prices, straining Europe's manufacturing base.
Europe also needs Washington's support to bolster its defenses and avoid direct confrontation with Russia -- an escalation that would leave Europe on the front lines.
The economic and geopolitical concerns are expected to top the agenda when Mr. Macron attends a four-day official state visit in Washington this week, the first by a foreign leader since President Biden's election.
Mr. Macron plans to press the president to reduce the risk of a wider conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine, said French officials.
The French leader wants to find a way of ending the military operation around the negotiation table, not the battlefield, a French official said, adding that it is up to Ukraine to decide when and how to negotiate with the Russians.
Mr. Biden has sought to avoid the perception that he is pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate, repeating a mantra echoed by White House officials: "Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."
U.S. officials said the president has a close relationship with Mr. Macron, despite the disagreements between the two countries. Mr. Biden chose France for his first state visit to underscore the importance of the U.S.'s ties with its oldest ally, officials said.
Mr. Macron considers the Inflation Reduction Act, which is set to take effect in January, a threat to European industry, according to French officials. The law includes massive subsidies and tax credits for products made using parts from North America and assembled there.
European officials say the measures, known as domestic-content requirements, penalize many European-made products such as batteries and electric cars that don't qualify for the tax credits. French officials worry that manufacturers stung by Europe's high energy prices are starting to consider shifting production to the U.S. to reap the subsidies in addition to cheaper fuel supplies.
The new U.S. law "could trigger a wave of deindustrialization in Europe," said Sebastien Jean, an economics professor at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, a Paris-based university and research center.
Mr. Macron plans to ask Mr. Biden for exemptions to the domestic-content requirements for European companies, comparable with those granted to firms from Canada and Mexico, French officials said.
White House officials acknowledged that the issue is likely to be a major topic, but said they don't expect the dispute to be resolved during the visit. The U.S. is committed to ensuring the continent has a stable supply of energy this winter and beyond, officials said." [1]
President Biden must be watching with amusement how European Union, the richest market on the face of Earth, is self-destroying because of naive political moves of two gnomes, Macron and Scholz. Macron is left on his knees begging America to share American taxpayers' money with European companies. It is unlikely that anything will come out of it.
1. World News: Economic Woes Top the Agenda for Macron-Biden Visit
Bisserbe, Noemie; Restuccia, Andrew.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 30 Nov 2022: A.8.
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