[CTC] Macron won't support trade deals with nations not in Paris climate pact

[Arthur Stamoulis]

POLITICO 
Macron won't support trade deals with nations not in Paris climate pact

By Sabrina Rodriguez
09/25/2018 03:32 PM EDT

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that France will not support EU trade agreements with countries that are not part of the Paris climate agreement, casting new doubt that the trading bloc could successfully carry out a deal with the Trump administration.

"We will no longer sign commercial agreements with powers that do not respect the Paris accord," Macron said during remarks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Countries should seek to "have our trade agreements take on board our environmental obligations," he added.

President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed in July to start talks aimed at reducing trade barriers across the Atlantic. Before that meeting, Trump had threatened to hit European-made autos with a 25 percent duty.

Macron has previously said <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=49a1a50b9cf9248e3c0b9384e09592ae1ca4afc36656b43b354b0a40c6cbe75619b91cce3034cfa01c7e565c1da14e47> that EU should not negotiate trade deals with countries that do not implement the Paris climate accord. All members of the European Union have to agree to new deals before they can take effect.

Trump pulled out from the nearly 200-nation Paris accord last year, arguing <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=49a1a50b9cf9248e349ac45241fc7b19629c90988565bdd1411d29263f6ba02da6ff8f73d4c6b82c21d8135707102a4d> that the United States' participation put the country "at a very, very big economic disadvantage."

Meanwhile, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström met for a second time in New York on Tuesday to discuss the parameters of future negotiations for a trans-Atlantic deal. French Ambassador to the U.S. Gérard Araud expressed concern <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=49a1a50b9cf9248e16418f330a53737b2a4ab148590dcfba03b40d49fdb6f4a1b9e688be791c2ec983832f512fcde8e5> last week that Trump would lose his patience with the talks and renew his threat on auto tariffs.

Macron further took on the Trump administration, emphasizing that France will continue to work with other countries in implementing the Paris pact's framework by the 2020 target year.

"In the G-7, we will be working to see the Paris obligations increased. Should someone be against that, we shall nonetheless press ahead through new fora because the G-7 must remain a group which is firmly committed to democracy, a unified one — but one which should also lead to new coalitions to allow for a reforging of the global collective system," Macron said.

Macron also repeatedly criticized protectionist and isolationist policies, saying it's imperative for countries to tackle trade imbalances with "common rules in line with today's realities, ones which guarantee fair competition on equal footing."

"Instead of working toward protectionism, we should work together to revise the WTO rules," Macron said. He added that he hopes the G-20 countries will have "produce a credible roadmap for the reforging of the WTO" when they meet in Buenos Aires at the end of November.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20180925/535fd07c/attachment.html>