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WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The United States and France have clarified their positions on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a subject of tension on both sides of the Atlantic, and agreed to “synchronize their approaches and agendas ” to ” invest in critical emerging industries,” Emmanuel Macron said Thursday after an interview with Joe Biden.
The French president said he had an “excellent discussion” with his counterpart on the IRA and the massive subsidies reserved for American producers that derive from it, subject to tensions on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We talked a lot about the anti-inflationary plan. We have the same goal: to invest massively”, commented Joe Biden for his part.
“We have decided to synchronize our approaches and agendas to invest in critical emerging sectors such as semiconductors, hydrogen, batteries (…) because deep down we share the same vision and the same will,” said Emmanuel Macron .
“President Biden wants to create long-term industrial jobs for his country and build strong industry and secure supplies and that’s exactly a vision we have,” he explained. “For this reason, we have mandated our teams to continue this work in close coordination in order to find solutions” on these issues.
“We want to be successful together, not against each other,” said Emmanuel Macron. “I’m leaving confident but also lucid on what needs to be done on the European side as well”.
“I am confident,” added Joe Biden.
(Written by Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Kate Entringer)
