PARIS — France’s Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire and his German homologue Robert Habeck will be in Washington on February 6 and 7 to iron out transatlantic trade issues triggered by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, three people with knowledge of the trip told POLITICO.
In December last year, French and German officials announced they would take a joint trip to discuss the consequences of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act without specifying a date.
The trip comes amid a major rift between Washington and Brussels over the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act — a $369 billion green0subsidy package that the EU fears will drive industry abroad. Brussels is set to respond with its own plan, which includes new industrial benchmarks, relaxing subsidy rules during crises and repurposing EU funds.
French officials have often stressed that there is little chance that the U.S. plan could be tweaked while the German government has maintained a more optimistic stance.
A French economy ministry spokesperson declined to confirm the exact date of the trip, but confirmed that it is set to happen in early February.
