Her name had been circulating in foreign trade for several days. On Saturday 21 September, Sophie Primas, senator for Yvelines since 2011 and vice-president of the Senate, officially inherited this portfolio, completed by that of the French Abroad. She, who for six years chaired the Economic Affairs Committee, announced in June her departure from Les Républicains to confirm her rejection of the agreement between Eric Ciotti and the National Rally for the 2024 legislative elections.
An agricultural engineer and graduate in marketing from Essec, she entered politics on the town hall of Aubergenville (Yvelines) in 2001, first as an MP, before being elected mayor in the 2014 municipal elections. In June 2010, close to Gérard Larcher, he was elected MP for Essec. Yvelines and began his career in Parliament, where he had the opportunity, on several occasions, to work on issues relating to French competitiveness.
She was particularly critical of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.“International trade theories teach us that free trade allows for general economic gains, but it is always at the expense of reallocations between countries, between companies, between more or less productive sectors. In this game, our European agriculture, and in particular our French agriculture, very often comes out the losers.”declared on January 22 in the Public Senate.
Concerned about France’s trade deficit
She, who has regularly pointed out the significant French trade deficit, does not inherit the easiest situation in this regard. Between 2020 and 2022, the imbalance in foreign trade constituted a serious obstacle for the French economy: according to figures from the French Observatory of Economic Conditions (OFCE), the contribution of this item to growth reached barely one point accumulated over the last three years. And in 2022, the trade deficit reached 164 billion euros, or 6 points of gross domestic product. A historic record since the end of the Second World War.
This poor figure is undoubtedly explained by cyclical factors, such as the fall in aeronautical exports on the one hand, and the rise in the price of imported energy, in particular due to the war in Ukraine. But it also reflects a loss of market share for French exporting manufacturers, a fact that is more worrying in the long term.
You have 17.45% left to read of this article. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
