France's Sarkozy urges verification that U.S. auto aid jibes with world trade rules
The European Union made noises last year about having the WTO verify that the U.S. auto industry assistance package doesn't violate any international trade rules. Now French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he will ask the World Trade Organization to stick their hands into the matter.
Critics suggest that this could be a diversionary tactic – Sarkozy himself was accused of violating trade rules with his proposed assistance to Renault and PSA Peugeot/Citroen. Or it could be a way to see if both the proposed French and U.S. proposals will pass the WTO test. Either way, Sarkozy and other European heads of state will meet to plan a Europe-wide response to the auto industry situation, as the E.U. continues to mull whether to bring a formal appeal to the WTO regarding the United States' bailout package.
[Source: Automotive News Europe, sub req'd. | Image: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Mr.Oak 8:36AM (2/28/2009)
....and I will politely say, BLOW ME.
Reply
notYou 9:36AM (2/28/2009)
Exactly.
I mean, it's France. Weren't they rendered irrelevant a hundred years or so ago?
"I've got this French gun for sale. Never fired, but dropped once."
[couldn't resist...]
Mobius_1 9:42AM (2/28/2009)
According to Jean Girard, they invented the b***job, so that's very appropriate of you to say that.
Sektor 12:09PM (2/28/2009)
Interesting how people are defending the bailout. It's not the Congress' money. It's OUR f***** money going down the drain; I assure you nothing good will come out of just handing money to the Big 3.
Big Rocket 2:10PM (2/28/2009)
@Sektor: Since Day 1, I have been a critic of all the bailouts -- not just the auto industry, but the investment firms, banks, etc, as well. I have always opposed the whole rip-off scheme to privatize profits and socialize losses. Having said all that, it is well within the right of the American public to tell Sarkozy to mind his own business. As a sovereign nation, America has the right to decide for itself what to do with its own economy, and it is not up to socialist France to intervene in our own domestic affairs. If the French president opposes government bailouts and aids for the auto industry, he should start by criticizing himself.
Telegraph, Britain: "French president Nicolas Sarkozy's £5.7bn bail-out of his country's auto industry is 'illegal' if loans have been tied to promises to keep car production in France."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/4581912/French-bail-out-of-car-industry-may-be-illegal.html
tankd0g 4:14PM (2/28/2009)
In other words, no change in the way the USA deals with the WTO...
Reader 12:33AM (3/01/2009)
Congress acknowledged people didn't want the auto bailout, but they went ahead with it anyway. So Sektor unless you think people are ready for a revolution, it's pretty much a moot point. "Go back to bed America, your government is in control."
ken_aisin 11:07AM (3/01/2009)
Yes, I would say, "Blow me, Midget. Why don't you just chill out, go home, climb up a ladder, and give your beautiful wife a kiss."
Jim 8:49AM (2/28/2009)
Just about every nation on this earth somehow protects their industries but here in the US if there's a hint of it, others will say that is unacceptable. I could understand it if our auto industries were thriving and we wanted to corner the market like Japan has often done, but that is not the case.
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Yaroukh 9:07AM (2/28/2009)
well said
nardvark 9:23AM (2/28/2009)
To be fair, we are usually the ones beating the "free trade" drum. Except when it comes to agriculture, then we completely ignore the rules (see sugarcane ethanol).
notYou 9:51AM (2/28/2009)
nardvark: "To be fair, we are usually the ones beating the "free trade" drum. Except when it comes to agriculture, then we completely ignore the rules (see sugarcane ethanol)."
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that we are also the world's #1 supplier of _free_ food aid donations which, from the massiv govt purchasing, heavily skews our markets.*
From "International Food Aid:
U.S. and Other Donor Contributions" (2006) http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rs21279.pdf:
The United States is the major contributor to international food aid, supplying on
average, since 1995, around 59% of the annual total food aid (see Figure 1) donated by members of the Food Aid Committee of the International Grains Council (IGC) and signatories of the 1999 Food Aid Convention.1 U.S. contributions increased from around 2.8 million metric tons (mmt) measured in wheat equivalent in 1995/1996 to about 5.4 mmt in 2004/2005 (see
Appendix Table 1).
Summary: we provide 60% of the world's food aid, more than 2 times the amount of the next closest provider, the EU, at 25%.
(* yes, there's other social political reasons involved, but our market is heavily skewed by massive govt purchasing)
Sea Urchin 9:54AM (2/28/2009)
Jim good point, but we have aided Auto Industry, we gave them 3 huge loans, one to make more efficient cars (Government STILL did not give out that money) and two bailouts.
Do you want to see more loans?
Mr.Oak 8:44AM (2/28/2009)
This my idiotic friends is one reason why I always look at buying American FIRST.
All of these countries employ protectionist practices. This is not the time to play silly games, we are in trouble here and don't need this crap.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy what makes best economic sense to you, I'm addressing the IDIOTS who would not look at a product because it is labelled "Made in USA".
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Sam 9:02AM (2/28/2009)
When you buy a car, thus spending thousands, wouldn't you go for build quality, style, performance over where its made?
My last few cars French(Citroen), German(VW), American(Ford), French(Citroen), British-ish (Vauxhall), British (Rover).
I don't buy a car because it happens to be made in the same country as i live in, i buy it because of what it is.
The idea to buy from your country in order to protect your manufactures is complacent and is what ruined the British car industry when Japanese cars came over. There built what they want cheapily, overprice them and they were crap.
There are very few American cars worth buying, and i doubt the vast majority of the planet would have a proper American(designed, manufactured) car in there list of next ones to buy. The only American car I had was designed by Brits after being commissioned by Brits and made by Brits in Britain, but i bought it because of quality and price not because of those facts. Ford is practically a European/British company with the amount of them in power holding positions.
Maybe people automatically don't buy cars labelled "Made in the USA" because the majority of them are mediocre crap that most of Europe and Japan wouldn't ever dream of making.
Instead of protecting what America has, why not revolutionise it and actually look at produce nicely designed, well built, suitable priced cars with respectable MPG that you would be proud to export around the world. The other car markets seem to manage that quite well so why not America?
Sea Urchin 9:47AM (2/28/2009)
While we have to protect our industries, after all car companies do hire a lot of people and provide jobs that are needed. We NEED to manufacture in order to stay relevant. Also manufacturing is the last place where someone without a college degree can become a TRUE middle class individual. We need to KEEP our industry, and we all know that Frenchdo aid their companies. However at this point and time it is clear that certain companies are a lost cause. I think we should help Tesla and Fisker over GM and Chrysler.
Also every reasonable American looks at ALL cars when he shops, but when it is time to pay up Honda and Toyota offer quality, reliability, MPG, good price, good comfort and everything you want in moderation. Americans do buy American cars, Mustang, Caravan, Jeep, we are buying them because they are great cars...............and the reason we are NOT buying Cobalts and Astra's and PT Cruisers, and Buick's is because they are c.r.a.p.
Mr.Oak 1:15PM (2/28/2009)
Maybe people automatically don't buy cars labelled "Made in the USA" because the majority of them are mediocre crap that most of Europe and Japan wouldn't ever dream of making.
Instead of protecting what America has, why not revolutionise it and actually look at produce nicely designed, well built, suitable priced cars with respectable MPG that you would be proud to export around the world. The other car markets seem to manage that quite well so why not America?
I agreed with u until these last two points. Your 2nd point first.
No, Hell no. While we can make the car that is quintessentially American better, we SHOULDN'T have to give up our identity and become euro-droids.
I've owned Toyotas, Volvos, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Mazda to name a a few foreign makes. ALL of them had their quirks and shortfalls. Cadillac has done the best job of merging the "American" car with Euro dynamics, without euro-headaches. From here on out, I will "BUY" American.
Now to point 1: Mediocre crap? I've spent time in europe, better than 50% of their models are sub-standard pieces of shite that could not even meet minimum federal requirements to be sold here.
Do you know why Renault, FIAT and Peugeot are not sold in this market? They were all here once. Not saying that none of them can build a good car. Just that the American manufacturers don't have a monopoly on crappy cars.
You mentioned the British. Doesn't it strike you as funny that the ENTIRE British Auto industry is foreign owned? Ford & GM (Vauxhall) are the only mass produced brands left.
I refuse to drive from New York to California in anything but a well made American car.
Tried it in an Audi - failed. (51K on odo)
Damn VW couldn't get me from NY to Virginia. (57K on odo).
Mazda tranny overheats in the mountains (Less than 80K on the odo).
Volvo that will not start when there was moisture in the air (65k on odo).
The only American car that was as bad as this lot, was the Eagle Premier that I traded the Volvo for. It died at 112K was fixable, not worth the effort.
alexander 10:57AM (2/28/2009)
yes, but america was the first in this game, by aiding general motors and chrysler..
Kitko 2:02PM (2/28/2009)
I'm wondering where your clothes, computer, domestic appliances, cell phone etc. were made. A computer may be assmbled stateside but 99% of components were made in Asia. Or perhpas the processor in Israel.
500 2:06PM (2/28/2009)
Great post, Mr. Oak. And as you probably know, the Eagle Premier was heavily Renault-based, a holdover from the American Motors/Renault partnership of the 80's.