Wednesday, May 14, 2008
[IWS] CRS: U.S. - FRENCH COMMERCIAL TIES [7 April 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL32459
U.S.-French Commercial Ties
Updated April 7, 2008
Raymond J. Ahearn, Specialist in International Trade and Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32459.pdf
[full-text, 16 pages]
Summary
U.S. commercial ties with France are extensive, mutually profitable, and
growing. With over $1.2 billion in commercial transactions taking place between the
two countries every day of the year, each country has an increasingly large stake in
the health and openness of the other's economy.
France is the 9th largest merchandise trading partner for the United States and
the United States is France's largest trading partner outside the European Union. In
2006, 62% or $38 billion of bilateral trade occurred in major industries such as
aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medical and scientific equipment, electrical machinery,
and plastics where both countries export and import similar products.
The United States and France also have a large and growing trade in services
such as tourism, education, finance, insurance and other professional services. In
2006, France was the sixth largest market for U.S. exports of services.
Although trade in goods and services receive most of the attention in terms of
the commercial relationship, foreign direct investment and the activities of foreign
affiliates can be viewed as the backbone of the commercial relationship. The scale
of sales of U.S.-owned companies operating in France and French-owned companies
operating in the United States outweighs trade transactions by a factor of almost five.
In 2006, France was the eleventh largest host country for U.S. foreign direct
investment abroad and the United States with investments valued at $65.9 billion
was the number one foreign investor in France. During that same year, French
companies had direct investments in the United States totaling $159 billion
(historical cost basis), making France the fifth largest investor in the United States.
French-owned companies employed some 473,000 workers in the United States in
2005 compared to 619,000 employees of U.S. companies invested in France.
Most U.S. trade and investment transactions with France, dominated by
multinational companies, are non-controversial. Nevertheless, three prominent issues
agriculture, government intervention in corporate activity, and the war in Iraq
have contributed periodically to increased bilateral tensions. The most pointed
perhaps arose in early 2003 with reports of U.S. consumer boycotts of French goods
and calls from some Members of Congress for trade retaliation against France (and
Germany) due to foreign policy differences over the Iraq War.
The foreign policy dispute, however, appears not to have had much impact on
sales of products such as French wines, perfumes and toiletries, travel goods and
handbags, and cheeses that are most prone to being boycotted. While some public
opinion polls at the time suggested support for economic boycotts as a way of
expressing opposition to France's position on Iraq, an economic backlash appears not
to have materialized. Effective boycotts would jeopardize thousands of jobs on both
sides of the Atlantic. This report will be updated as needed. See also its companion
report, CRS Report RL32464, France: Factors Shaping French Policy, and Issues
in U.S.-French Relations, by Paul Gallis.
Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Trade Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Investment Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Tensions and Disagreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Government Intervention in Corporate Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Iraq War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Appendix: Trade and Foreign Investment Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
List of Tables
Table 1. U.S. Trade with France in Goods, 1998-2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Table 2. U.S. Trade with France in Services, 1998-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Table 3. U.S. Trade Balance with France on Goods and Services, 1998-2006 . . . 3
Table 4. U.S. - France Commercial Interactions, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Table 5. U.S. Imports of Selective Luxury Goods from France, 2003-2007 . . . . . 8
Table A. Top Ten U.S. Trading Partners, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table B. France's Top Trading Partners, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table C. Major U.S. Exports to France, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table D. Major U.S. Imports from France, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table E. U.S. Total Exports to France by Top 10 States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table F. Foreign Direct Investment in the United States: Top Five Countries, 2002-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table G. Employment of French Majority-Owned U.S. Affiliates, by Top 15 States, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Table H. French Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 1990-2004 . . . 12
Table I. U.S. Foreign Direct Investment in France, 1990-2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
[Thanks to Shirl Kennedy at Docuticker.com for the tip].
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL32459
U.S.-French Commercial Ties
Updated April 7, 2008
Raymond J. Ahearn, Specialist in International Trade and Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32459.pdf
[full-text, 16 pages]
Summary
U.S. commercial ties with France are extensive, mutually profitable, and
growing. With over $1.2 billion in commercial transactions taking place between the
two countries every day of the year, each country has an increasingly large stake in
the health and openness of the other's economy.
France is the 9th largest merchandise trading partner for the United States and
the United States is France's largest trading partner outside the European Union. In
2006, 62% or $38 billion of bilateral trade occurred in major industries such as
aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medical and scientific equipment, electrical machinery,
and plastics where both countries export and import similar products.
The United States and France also have a large and growing trade in services
such as tourism, education, finance, insurance and other professional services. In
2006, France was the sixth largest market for U.S. exports of services.
Although trade in goods and services receive most of the attention in terms of
the commercial relationship, foreign direct investment and the activities of foreign
affiliates can be viewed as the backbone of the commercial relationship. The scale
of sales of U.S.-owned companies operating in France and French-owned companies
operating in the United States outweighs trade transactions by a factor of almost five.
In 2006, France was the eleventh largest host country for U.S. foreign direct
investment abroad and the United States with investments valued at $65.9 billion
was the number one foreign investor in France. During that same year, French
companies had direct investments in the United States totaling $159 billion
(historical cost basis), making France the fifth largest investor in the United States.
French-owned companies employed some 473,000 workers in the United States in
2005 compared to 619,000 employees of U.S. companies invested in France.
Most U.S. trade and investment transactions with France, dominated by
multinational companies, are non-controversial. Nevertheless, three prominent issues
agriculture, government intervention in corporate activity, and the war in Iraq
have contributed periodically to increased bilateral tensions. The most pointed
perhaps arose in early 2003 with reports of U.S. consumer boycotts of French goods
and calls from some Members of Congress for trade retaliation against France (and
Germany) due to foreign policy differences over the Iraq War.
The foreign policy dispute, however, appears not to have had much impact on
sales of products such as French wines, perfumes and toiletries, travel goods and
handbags, and cheeses that are most prone to being boycotted. While some public
opinion polls at the time suggested support for economic boycotts as a way of
expressing opposition to France's position on Iraq, an economic backlash appears not
to have materialized. Effective boycotts would jeopardize thousands of jobs on both
sides of the Atlantic. This report will be updated as needed. See also its companion
report, CRS Report RL32464, France: Factors Shaping French Policy, and Issues
in U.S.-French Relations, by Paul Gallis.
Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Trade Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Investment Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Tensions and Disagreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Government Intervention in Corporate Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Iraq War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Appendix: Trade and Foreign Investment Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
List of Tables
Table 1. U.S. Trade with France in Goods, 1998-2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Table 2. U.S. Trade with France in Services, 1998-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Table 3. U.S. Trade Balance with France on Goods and Services, 1998-2006 . . . 3
Table 4. U.S. - France Commercial Interactions, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Table 5. U.S. Imports of Selective Luxury Goods from France, 2003-2007 . . . . . 8
Table A. Top Ten U.S. Trading Partners, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table B. France's Top Trading Partners, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table C. Major U.S. Exports to France, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table D. Major U.S. Imports from France, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table E. U.S. Total Exports to France by Top 10 States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table F. Foreign Direct Investment in the United States: Top Five Countries, 2002-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table G. Employment of French Majority-Owned U.S. Affiliates, by Top 15 States, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Table H. French Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 1990-2004 . . . 12
Table I. U.S. Foreign Direct Investment in France, 1990-2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
[Thanks to Shirl Kennedy at Docuticker.com for the tip].
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 8:24 AM
