Macron: Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act could damage the West [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• French President Emmanuel Macron warned that US President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act could damage the West.
• Critics of the act believe that by favoring American-made technology, it would discriminate against European producers.
• Macron and Biden later said that the alliance must remain united as Russia’s war on Ukraine threatens peace and democracy.

US President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act could damage the West, warned French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Macron said that the agenda “will fragment the West” by differentiating between companies in the US and Europe. He warned that this could prompt US companies to not want to invest “on the other side of the Atlantic” anymore.

The French president made the statements during an interview that aired on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday.

Macron added that the US-France relations work well on overall geopolitics and the war in Ukraine. But he stated that the US did not properly coordinate with Europe for the climate bill and semiconductor legislation, thus eliminating “a level playing field.”

The legislation also drew concern from other European Union nations. They argued that tax credits aimed to encourage Americans to buy electric vehicles would discriminate against European producers, breaking World Trade Organization rules.

Last year, relations with France were also at a low point after Biden announced a deal to sell nuclear submarines to Australia. The deal undermined a contract for France to sell diesel-powered submarines. Biden later acknowledged the clumsy rollout of the deal with Australia, and Macron was also one of Biden’s strongest allies in the response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Macron and his wife Brigitte were also the guests of honor when Biden hosted his first state dinner as president on Thursday evening.

Speaking at a joint news conference, the president said that he and Macron spoke “a good deal” about Europe’s concerns over his signature climate change law.

Biden said, “The United States makes no apology. And I make no apologies, since I wrote it.” Still, he acknowledged that there may have to be some changes to the massive legislative package he signed into law in August.

Source: Fox News