Tariffs Threaten Layoffs in French Industry, Minister Warns
Job losses are 'a risk,' industry minister Marc Ferracci told radio station France Inter on Wednesday.
'If the U.S. tariffs are made to last, there will be an impact on jobs,' he said. 'In terms of numbers, it's difficult to assess the impact,' which will depend on exporters' ability to translate tariff costs into higher prices, or absorb them into their margins, he said.
Sectors including cosmetics, luxury goods and aeronautics are among the French industries most exposed to the 20% tariffs on European imports set out by President Trump last week, the minister said. That package added to tariffs on European autos and metals that Trump had previously announced. European authorities are working on a plan to retaliate with their own measures, which could be set out as early as next week.
Some 28,000 French companies export to the U.S., Ferracci said. 'For a large part of them, the U.S. makes up more than 50% of their order book,' he said. 'So the impact is likely to be very serious, for the exporters themselves, but also indirectly.'
'The policy announced by the U.S. administration is a massive shock that destabilizes the global trade order in place since the World War II,' the minister said. 'It destabilizes supply processes that cross borders between nations.'
Ferracci pointed to the highly integrated supply chain in place for aeronautic giant Airbus, a major employer in France and which shares many suppliers with its U.S. competitor Boeing.
'They are used to a very fluid cross-Atlantic trade. Putting tariffs on that sector overturns the economic calculations … Some companies are wondering if they will be able to keep producing,' he said.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com
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