France wants the suspension of the ‘toxic’ trade conflict between the United States and Europe

PARIS (Reuters) – The European Union and the new administration of US President-elect Joe Biden are expected to put a trade dispute on hold to give themselves time to find common ground, the French foreign minister said in a speech on Sunday .

“The issue that plagues everyone is that of soaring prices and taxes on steel, digital technology, Airbus and more particularly our wine industry,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told Journal du Dimanche in an interview. .

He said he hoped the parties could find a way to settle the dispute. “It may take a while, but in the meantime we can still order a moratorium,” he added.

At the end of December, the United States decided to increase tariffs on French and German aircraft parts, wines and other spirits amid the Boeing-Airbus subsidy dispute, but the bloc decided to suspend retaliation for the time being.

The EU plans to present a reform proposal to the World Trade Organization in February and is ready to consider reforms to restrict the judicial authority of the WTO dispute settlement body.

The United States has complained for years that the WTO Appellate Body has introduced unwarranted new trade rules into its rulings and blocked the appointment of new judges to terminate them, rendering that body inoperative.

The Trump administration, which is leaving office on Wednesday, had threatened to impose tariffs on French cosmetics, handbags and other products in retaliation for the French tax on digital services, which it said discriminated against France. towards American technology companies.