None of the items in the to-be-boycotted list are extremely high tech.
They can be easily boycotted.
On the other side, French trade with the Muslims of the world is less than that with Belgium. France loses little.
I don't see how a boycott is impossible, as some people elsewhere have been insinuating.
I don't see how a boycott will harm France significantly either.
I very much appreciate your comment but cannot fully agree with your assessment that France loses little by not trading with the Muslim world.
Boycotts have to last a while to be effective - yes. But when you pit the whole Muslim world against French Exports, the effect will not be small.
Most of the growing categories of French exports have been with developing Muslim economies (with large populations) in Asia. France has already lost Pakistan as an export destination sometime ago.
Only one company (Thales) has had multiple satellite build and launch program agreements with Indonesia and Bangladesh, two growing Muslim economies.
These contracts are ongoing ones, worth at least 10 Billion dollars a year or more. In addition there are high ticket defence sales like radar and naval systems that are bought by both these countries (Malaysia and Brunei as well which are Muslim countries).
Not to talk about infrastructure products like railway equipment, powerplants, gas turbines, heavy electrical transformers etc. sold by Alstom and Schneider Electric - to name just two famous French companies.
So picking fights with Muslim economies is not a great idea for a diminishing economy like France. It might not sound good when you call a spade a spade, but France has little other choice to sell its technology goods to, other than Muslim economies.
Other non-Muslim Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan) are mostly self-sufficient and don't need French precision technology products, which aren't really price competitive, and don't compare well in quality when compared to German or Swiss products.
And we should not forget that France is a major seller of wheat and other agri products to Maghreb and Gulf economies. That is worth at least 5 to 7 Billion every year.
If Macron thinks he can absorb the loss of exports, then so be it.
Let's take a look - the top ten French categories of exports in 2019 (worth $375 Billion out of a total of $550 Billion or so that year) have been per the following article,
France's top exports in 2023 plus a searchable database of major export products, food exports, France's best international trade customers & trade surpluses or deficits by key French goods
www.worldstopexports.com
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France’s Top 10 Exports
October 4, 2020 by
Daniel Workman
Formally the French Republic, France shipped US$555.1 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. That dollar metric reflects a -2.4% decrease from 2018 to 2019 compared to a 12.1% increase in value since 2015.
France’s exported goods totaled $259.4 billion during the first 7 months of 2020. Assuming an annualized $444.7 billion in exports for all 2020, France is on track for an estimated -19.9% drop in value for its shipments from 2019 to 2020.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2019, the euro appreciated by 0.9% against the US dollar since 2015 but declined by -5.5% from 2018 to 2019. The weaker EU currency in 2019 made France’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
The latest available country-specific data shows that 68% of products exported from France were bought by importers in: Germany (14.1% of the global total), United States (8.5%), Italy (7.6%), Spain (7.5%), Belgium (6.9%), United Kingdom (6.8%), China (4.2%), Switzerland (3.6%), Netherlands (3.5%), Poland (2.1%), Singapore (1.7%) and Japan (1.6%).
From a continental perspective, 64.3% of France exports by value were delivered to fellow European countries while 17.4% were sold to importers in Asia. France shipped another 10% worth of goods to North America and Africa (5.2%). Smaller percentages went to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (1.9%) then Oceania led by Australia (1%).
Given France’s population of 64.8 million people, its total $555.1 billion in 2019 exports translates to roughly $8,600 for every resident in the European Union member nationy.
France’s Top 10 Exports
- Top 10
- Advantages
- Opportunities
- Companies
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in French global shipments during 2019. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from France.
- Machinery including computers: US$67.3 billion (12.1% of total exports)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $53.5 billion (9.6%)
- Vehicles: $52.8 billion (9.5%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $43.4 billion (7.8%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $35.5 billion (6.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $20.9 billion (3.8%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $20.1 billion (3.6%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $19.3 billion (3.5%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $17.6 billion (3.2%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $15.5 billion (2.8%)
France’s top 10 export categories accounted for over three-fifths (62.3%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Pharmaceuticals represents the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 4.9% since 2018. In second place for improving export sales was the optical, technical and medical apparatus subcategory thanks to its 4.2% gain. France’s deliveries of aircraft and spacecraft posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 3.1%.
The leading decliner among France’s top 10 export categories was mineral fuels including oil via a -17.1% drop.
Note that the results listed above are at the categorized two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. For a more granular view of exported goods at the four-digit HTS code level, see the section
Searchable List of France’s Most Valuable Export Products further down below.
Searchable List of France’s Most Valuable Export Products
The following searchable table displays 100 of the most in-demand goods shipped from France during 2019. Shown beside each product label is its total export value then the percentage increase or decrease since 2018.
| RANK | FRANCE'S EXPORT PRODUCT | 2019 VALUE (US$) | CHANGE |
|---|
| 1 | Aircraft, spacecraft | $43,950,875,000 | +1.1% |
| 2 | Medication mixes in dosage | $26,153,655,000 | +2.7% |
| 3 | Cars | $23,611,119,000 | -6.5% |
| 4 | Turbo-jets | $18,873,333,000 | +16.7% |
| 5 | Automobile parts/accessories | $13,936,043,000 | -11.1% |
| 6 | Wine | $10,957,171,000 | -0.8% |
| 7 | Beauty/makeup/skin care preparations | $9,976,191,000 | +3.9% |
| 8 | Aircraft parts | $9,422,863,000 | +13.1% |
| 9 | Cases, handbags, wallets | $8,627,042,000 | +11.7% |
| 10 | Processed petroleum oils | $8,385,015,000 | -20.8% |
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in French global shipments during 2019. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from France.
- Machinery including computers: US$67.3 billion (12.1% of total exports)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $53.5 billion (9.6%)
- Vehicles: $52.8 billion (9.5%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $43.4 billion (7.8%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $35.5 billion (6.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $20.9 billion (3.8%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $20.1 billion (3.6%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $19.3 billion (3.5%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $17.6 billion (3.2%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $15.5 billion (2.8%)
