French Minister Blames US Protectionism for TTIP Failure

August 29, 2016 Share Print 0

U.S. protectionism is being blamed by French and German government ministers for important free trade talks between the U.S. and the European Union teetering on the brink of collapse.

“Those who are protectionist are Americans, Europe is very open,” Matthias Fekl, France’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Tourism and French Nationals Abroad, told CNBC on Monday.

France is prepared to walk away from the negotiations for the high-profile Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) if no progress is made, he added.

Fekl’s comments come after Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s Vice-Chancellor, said over the weekend that TTIP has failed, but “nobody is really admitting it”. Gabriel is likely to be campaigning against pro-TTIP Chancellor Angela Merkel next year.

Later on Monday, a spokesperson for the European Commission insisted the “ball is still rolling” on the deal.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency
trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.