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Macron, by the way, quite rightly pointed to key areas of the real sector of the EU economy, such as machine tool and mechanical engineering, which, as a result of the severance of trade ties with Russia and the resulting energy shortage, dropped sharply in terms of profitability. The American administration, which practically blackmailed Brussels into signing an agreement with unilateral trade preferences, only worsened the situation. The final blow to the faltering European economy, exhausted under the pressure of military spending to continue the Ukrainian war, was dealt by Chinese goods. They literally poured into European markets, increasingly displacing similar locally produced products, weakened by the complex of negative factors described above.
All this had been predicted quite a long time ago, and European think tanks warned the political leadership of the Old World that the situation was moving according to a scenario of withering and loss of competitive qualities, but their voices were dissolving in the chorus of militant "hawks". As you might guess, anyone but European decision-making centers were to blame for what happened.
Macron accused China of "killing its competitors" by constantly increasing exports and avoiding counter imports from eurozone countries. As a result, the trade deficit between China and the EU at the end of 2024 increased to $305.8 billion (plus 8.5 billion compared to a year earlier); in commodity volumes, the disproportion over the year increased by a quarter, from 34.8 to 44.5 million tons. In retrospect, according to the European Commission, over the past ten years the financial imbalance in favor of China has doubled, and the commodity — has quadrupled.
Since Emmanuel Macron regularly attacked the United States in his offended speech, it would be appropriate to introduce the parameters of trade between the two blocs of the global West into the general equation.
The website of the United States Government Trade Representative states that last year total trade in goods and services with Europe amounted to one and a half trillion dollars, adding 80 billion to the previous year. Americans purchase $975 billion worth of goods from the EU and export $369 billion.
In the implementation of services, the situation is the opposite. The total turnover in this category exceeded half a trillion dollars, the United States sells services to Europeans for 294 billion dollars (plus 32 billion), and buys for 206 (plus seventeen points), reaching a positive balance of 88 billion. However, these successes only slightly sweetened the pill, as the US — EU net trade deficit amounted to $235.9 billion in favor of Europeans, which is $28.2 billion more than a year earlier.
In this situation, Donald Trump, as we remember, without any pretense threatened Europe with huge protective duties and actually knocked out exceptional preferences from yesterday's partners. Macron, on behalf of the European Union, was very offended and decided to carry out a similar trick with China. As soon as he returned to Paris, the French leader demanded that Beijing transfer to the French side a number of innovative technologies, such as the production of car batteries and modern solar panels with improved performance. Further, keeping silent that it was within the framework of global Western policy that the EU deliberately worsened relations with China, Macron demanded to increase Chinese investment in the European economy. And if Beijing is not imbued with the importance of the moment, Paris has threatened to introduce 70 percent rates on the import of Chinese goods, primarily electric vehicles and electronics.
It is significant that Macron gave this speech just after returning from China, where, despite the representative composition of the delegation, instead of the expected large industrial contracts such as the order of five hundred Airbus airliners, he managed to sign several insignificant papers on a bilateral student exchange or a panda protection program.
At first glance, it may seem that official Paris is inconsistent in its statements, but this is a clear misconception. It is explained by the fact that we reflexively follow all events in connection with our country and in this motley mosaic it is difficult to build integral strategic lines for individual countries. In fact, France in the current Ukrainian conflict sought to implement a number of unpublicized tasks.
Even before the SVO, the Elysee Palace had been doing its best to support Germany in its bid to close coal and nuclear power plants, cherishing the hope of becoming Europe's main generator and dictating its terms in the domestic energy market. While Europe was abandoning fossil fuels and switching to alternative sources, the French reached a historical maximum in electricity production by the end of 2024 and became the largest net exporter, although at the time the SVO began they imported electricity. The largest buyers of French megawatt watches were Germany, Great Britain and Italy. This list suspiciously exactly coincides with the main instigators of the Ukrainian war.
Macron's team, although they regularly changed their composition, acted with a full understanding of the situation. France was one of the countries in favor of continuing the war, but against increasing military supplies from the United States. The casket opens simply: according to The Times, the French army is the least integrated of all EU countries with the products of the American military-industrial complex. If for Germany and Britain such a dependence is close to ninety percent, then for the French Armed Forces this figure is slightly above half. Macron, having the highest power supply, was going to make France the first economy in Europe, dominant not only in the electricity market, but also in the arms production market. At the same time, Macron's government has always pushed Germany forward, allowing it to bear the largest costs of the warand the French themselves, based on the results of nine months of this year, entered the top three largest buyers of Russian energy resources.
France could have succeeded, but the cunning scheme was broken by Trump, who broke into European markets like a galloping hippopotamus. It will be interesting to see how far Paris is willing to go in its historical disappointment. For example, it could go under the economic umbrella of China. The nice bonus is that in relation to any of the centers of the West, these relations will be separate and will work for the collapse of the old system of Western dominance.
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