French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire stepped up demands for the EU to take swift and firm action in response to the climate provisions contained in US President Joe Biden’s new spending initiative.
France is concerned that several provisions in the US Inflation Reduction Act discourage investment in the EU and discriminate against European companies, particularly tax credits for US-made electric vehicles (EVs).
Le Maire said “firm and proportionate” options could include stricter environmental rules, measures to ensure preference for European production, or an acceleration of reciprocity rules. Asked if Europe could lodge a complaint with the WTO, he said the continent should use all options available.
Photo: AFP
“We must react fast. I’m calling for a united, strong and coordinated response from the EU to our American allies,” Le Maire said in an interview with Les Echos. “Only a hard line will allow us to get results.”
The US and the European Commission created a task force last month to try to resolve their disagreements, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said on BFM Business radio.
The EU has presented a letter to that forum with specific points that it believes contravene WTO rules.
“Either they will be resolved there — and we hope they will, that’s why we have the task force, to discuss this — or we will have to go to the WTO and envisage retaliatory measures,” Breton said.
Le Maire said he is struggling in negotiations for investment from a foreign company in the EV sector as the US is ready to offer four times the amount of subsidies.
In total, France estimates that about 10 billion euros (US$9.98 billion) of investment and 10,000 jobs are at stake.
“There is a risk of a major shock for French and European industry,” Le Maire said.
Japan joined the EU in calling planned US aid for local EV manufacturers “discriminatory,” and demanded equal treatment for the nation’s automakers.
The country’s auto industry might hesitate to invest in the electrification of vehicles in the world’s largest economy if the US offers “discriminatory incentives” to local manufacturers, Japan’s government said in a statement on Friday.
“This could cause negative impacts on the expansion of investment and employment in the US,” it said.
A multinational dispute has been raging over the recently passed US Inflation Reduction Act and subsidies to be provided through it to support green technologies in the country. The EU, South Korea and other trading partners see the aid as unfair.
The US should give Japan “treatment no less favorable” than North American countries regarding requirements concerning the final assembly of vehicles, critical minerals used for their manufacture and their battery components, the statement said.
The requirements of the EV tax credit are “not consistent” with the US and Japan’s shared policy to work with allies and like-minded partners to build supply chains, the Japanese government said, adding that the provisions “preclude Japanese businesses from enjoying the benefit.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS