French President Emmanuel Macron says that some of President Joe Biden’s domestic policies could “fragment the West,” after he arrived in Washington for the first state dinner of the Biden administration.
“There is a risk today that we must discuss among friends,” Macron told reporters on Dec. 1 at the French Embassy in Washington. “The risk is that, in the face of the challenges I mentioned, the U.S. looks first to the U.S., which is normal—we do the same.”
Then, the United States “looks at its rivalry with China, and that Europe, and therefore France, becomes a sort of adjustment variable,” he added.
Macron then made reference to the Inflation Reduction Act, a Democrat-backed bill passed along party lines earlier this year, and the CHIPS Act. The Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a grab bag of policies, provides some $400 billion of support to the green energy industry in the United States, while the CHIPS Act bolsters U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.
“The choices made, whose goals I share—especially the [Inflation Reduction Act] or the CHIPS Act—are choices that will fragment the West because they create such differences between the U.S. and Europe,” Macron said.
“These choices can only work if there is coordination between us.”
The CHIPS Act, in particular, is designed to counter China’s growing influence, namely amid veiled regime threats against Taiwan in recent months during the Russia–Ukraine conflict. Taiwan is a major manufacturer of semiconductors sold in the United States.
European leaders have complained about the legislative package, signed by Biden in August, which offers massive subsidies for U.S.-made products, which they say unfairly disadvantages non-American companies and would be a serious blow to their economies as Europe deals with the fallout from Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the legislation “presents significant opportunities for European firms as well as benefits to EU energy security,” when asked about European concerns.
1st State Dinner
The French president is the first foreign leader to be feted with a state dinner at the Biden White House, a sign of France’s importance to Washington, despite some differences with the Biden administration. It’s also Macron’s first time in the United States since he visited during the Trump administration in 2018.On Dec. 1, Macron visited NASA headquarters with Vice President Kamala Harris and said U.S.–French cooperation is important to counter the risk of conflict in space. The two announced new U.S.–French cooperation on space during a meeting in Paris a year ago.
Macron said space represents “a new place of conflict” and that it was important for France and the United States to work together on setting rules and norms because they share a commitment to science as well as democratic values.
“We have crazy players in space as well, and we have rogue states there and we have new hybrid attacks,” Macron added.
When Macron was welcomed to the White House on Dec. 1, he made reference to the Ukraine–Russia conflict.
“As war returns to the European soil, following Russia’s aggression to Ukraine and in light of the multiple crises our nations and our societies face, we need to become brothers in arms once more,” Macron said via a translator after Biden delivered remarks.
Biden, meanwhile, said that both countries are united amid the war and stated that “the alliance between our two nations remains essential to our mutual defense.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on a briefing call that China would top the agenda during Macron’s visit “because of the global influence that China is trying to exude and demonstrate and because of the security challenges that China continues to pose, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.”
