Can Prime Minister Mark Carney really make the weight against US President Donald Trump? Roland Lescure, vice-president of the French National Assembly and former senior manager of the Caisse de Dépôt, believes that yes.
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According to him, Mr. Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron share a similar point of view on how to deal with Trump.
“I think they quite agree on how to approach both the person and the challenge. You have to be respectful, of course. But you also have to be ready to be respected. Donald Trump, he is strong with the weak. And I think he may not be so strong with the forts, ”said Mr. Lescure yesterday Journal.
After a widely perceived visit to the White House in May, Mark Carney recently experienced reverse. He had to abolish the tax on digital services in disaster, honored in Washington, and he has just admitted that Canada will probably not be able to escape American customs duties.
“I think [qu’il] As best as possible a situation that is not easy, ”said Lescure.
Roland Lescure during a meeting between Mark Carney and Emmanuel Macron, earlier this year.
Photo Lars Hagberg Cabinet you Premier Ministers du Canada
“Never good for the economy”
The former minister fears the worst for the world economy. “I am extremely concerned because a trade conflict is never good for the economy.”
He noted that the risks are much larger for Canada than for Europe. Three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the United States, compared to barely 21% of those on the old continent.
Canada is doing well to try to diversify its markets, but it will not be easy to obtain concrete results, warned the economist. “To move masses [d’exportations] Like that, it’s a lot of dollars, “he said.
For the moment, however, a good part of Canadian exports, apart from steel and aluminum, continue to be excluded from American prices thanks to the free trade agreement.
The deputy, who represents the French living in North America, went to New York, Ottawa and Montreal as part of a brief tour of his vast electoral district. On Thursday, he notably visited the Airbus factory in Mirabel, “a fine example of Franco-Canadian and Franco-Quebec cooperation,” he said.
Concerned expatriates
The 160,000 French people living in the United States “are on the front line” of the current crisis, noted Roland Lescure.
“Their concern is [s’]Are they going to have a work permit problem? Does their job will be affected[e] by prices? Will their visa be endangered? When they return to France for the holidays, do they risk not being able to return to the United States? These are very concrete concerns. Besides, there are a pack of them who now plan to return to France in the short or medium term. ”
Will France be able to continue to tax GAFAM?
Mr. Lescure believes that unlike Canada, France will be able to keep its digital American tax on American giants, grouped under the acronym GAFAM (Alphabet [Google]Amazon, Meta [Facebook]Apple and Microsoft). “It is today the sector of absolute American power,” he said. “This creates democratic, ethical and economic issues, since these companies pay very little taxes in countries [où] They make money. “
