{
  "id": "RL32459",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32459",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 348723,
      "date": "2009-05-12",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T02:31:07.399460",
      "title": "U.S.-French Commercial Ties",
      "summary": "U.S. commercial ties with France are extensive, mutually profitable, and growing. With over $1.35 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\u2019s economy.\nFrance is the eighth largest merchandise trading partner for the United States and the United States is France\u2019s largest trading partner outside the European Union. More than half of bilateral trade occurs in major industries such as aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medical and scientific equipment, electrical machinery, and plastics where both countries export and import similar products.\nThe United States and France also have a large and growing trade in services such as tourism, education, finance, insurance and other professional services. In recent years, France has been the sixth largest market for U.S. exports of services.\nAlthough 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 French-owned companies operating in the United States and U.S.-owned companies operating in France outweighs trade transactions by a factor of four and five, respectively.\nIn 2007, France was the thirteenth largest host country for U.S. foreign direct investment abroad and the United States with investments valued at $68.5 billion was the number one foreign investor in France. During that same year, French companies had direct investments in the United States totaling $169 billion (historical cost basis), making France the sixth largest investor in the United States. French-owned companies employed some 497,000 workers in the United States in 2006 compared to 651,500 employees of U.S. companies invested in France.\nMost U.S. trade and investment transactions with France, dominated by multinational companies, are non-controversial. Nevertheless, three prominent issues\u2014agriculture, government intervention in corporate activity, and the war in Iraq\u2014have 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.\nThe 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\u2019s 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 Foreign Policy, and Issues in U.S.-French Relations, by Paul Gallis.",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc700597/",
      "id": "RL32459_2008May19",
      "date": "2008-05-19",
      "retrieved": "2015-08-27T16:20:31",
      "title": "U.S.-French Commercial Ties",
      "summary": "This report discusses the U.S. commercial ties with France, which 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",
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign policy",
          "name": "Foreign policy"
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        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign relations -- France -- U.S.",
          "name": "Foreign relations -- France -- U.S."
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign economic relations -- U.S. -- France",
          "name": "Foreign economic relations -- U.S. -- France"
        }
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806681/",
      "id": "RL32459_2008Apr07",
      "date": "2008-04-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "U.S.-French Commercial Ties",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc807484/",
      "id": "RL32459_2005Jan26",
      "date": "2005-01-26",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "U.S.-French Commercial Ties",
      "summary": null,
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc808903/",
      "id": "RL32459_2004Jul07",
      "date": "2004-07-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "U.S.-French Commercial Ties",
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  "topics": [
    "Agricultural Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs"
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}