(Rehearsal in the title)

PARIS (Reuters) – Eric Lombard does not call for the boycott of American products but asks French manufacturers to postpone their investments in the United States to weigh in negotiations on new customs rights, said the Minister of Economy in an interview with the Sunday newspaper published on Saturday evening.

“These movements are part of the citizen initiative. It is not the Minister of the Economy to call for boycott. My role is to conduct the institutional, firm, coordinated, responsible response,” he said.

“What we do, on the other hand, is to ask French manufacturers who planned investments in the United States to postpone them. We have called on entrepreneurs to show economic patriotism to weigh in negotiation.”

Eric Lombard said it was too early to discuss a possible revision of growth forecasts following the trade war opened by President Donald Trump.

“We have to wait because everything will depend on the outcome of the current discussions: if we do not get the lifting of American customs duties and we must apply our own measures, there will be a negative impact on growth-it is obvious,” he said. “On the other hand, if we reach a balanced agreement within a reasonable time, it will be a factor of trust.”

Among the tools that can be activated in response to American decisions, Eric Lombard spoke of the possibility of strengthening certain environmental requirements, to supervise the use of the data of certain digital actors or to tax certain American activities precisely. “All these options, the European framework allows us and are being discussed,” he continued, adding that nothing was decided at this stage.

To support companies in the sectors exposed to the increase in customs duties, Eric Lombard will bring together on April 14 a business council in Bercy, called to become a regular dialogue body with the public authorities.

(Gilles Guillaume report)

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