The French trade deficit was reduced in 2024, but challenges persist

France’s trade deficit decreased last year. Less imports of goods and services … This has helped to improve the balance of our exchanges with foreigners, even if it remains a lot to do to straighten the accounts.

There is better, but! To cite only one example: France still displays a deficit commercial balance with the United States of just over four billion euros, where Germany is surplus, according to figures published Friday, February 7. That said, let’s not sulk our pleasure. Over the entire 2024, the Global French trade deficit (with all countries) was reduced by 19 billion euros to stand at 81 billion precisely. The comparison with the previous two years is rather flattering compared to the deficit of 164 billion euros that we displayed in 2022 and the 99 billion 2023.

Concretely, last year France benefited from a greater decrease in imports which it really exported more products. This largely puts the embellished. It is essentially on the energy that the situation has evolved. According to figures communicated by customs, we have imported less energy to run our businesses and our economy.

Our energy bill fell by 13 billion. Thanks to the return to grace of nuclear, we were less dependent on the foreigner. A positive factor, certainly, but which does not fill our real weakness to export, our big black point, except in aeronautics, perfumes and cosmetics, chemicals and electricity which, they display records of sales abroad.

France suffers from a bad development of its SMEs and ETIs. Small and medium -sized enterprises, and intermediate companies, are those that participate most in our exports unlike the majority of large groups that make their business on site in other countries. The French economy has this particularity of having a dynamic entrepreneurial fabric, but which comes up against the traditional obstacles of administrative and tax constraints. Too heavy to be agile. The government acknowledges that the number of tricolor companies open to export is now 150,000. However, it would take 100,000 more to really win. An all the more pressing objective at a time when the American president, Donald Trump, is relaunching the trade and industrial war for his benefit, and not only on steel and aluminum.