France: Reshoring will be limited because it has no spontaneous economic logic

The geographical structure of t he French trade balance can be taken as a starting point : France has a trade deficit with euro-zone countries, not with other OECD countries, and not with emerging countries as a whole: With respect to emerging countries, there is therefore simply a normal use of comparative advantages, with a parallel increase in exports and imports, and a move upmarket for France; With respect to other euro-zone countries, there is the normal effect of the fact that labour costs are high while labour force skills and the level of product sophistication are low. So we can see that France’s foreign trade situation is normal and explainable. The only conceivable reshoring is therefore in sectors that the government will support because of the externalities they provide: sovereignty, technological independence, maintaining employment in the territories.