Posted originally on CTH on April 6, 2025 | Sundance

According to French media, quoting multiple corporate leaders and company directors throughout France [LINK], the leadership of France’s biggest companies told Macron to ‘get stuffed’ following the French president’s demand to divest their interests from America.

President Macron ordered 50 of the largest companies with positions in the USA to attend an emergency economic meeting at Elysée Palace. As reported by French media, “Some of us fell out of our chairs,” confided one of the 50 or so French business leaders invited.”

“We are not in an administered economy,” thunders the leader of an employers’ movement. And the CEO of a CAC 40 giant bluntly asserts: “I don’t give a damn about what Macron says. We have operations in the United States. There is no question of abandoning them just like that. We must respect our commitments to our employees, our customers and our shareholders. An opinion shared by a manager of a spirits producer: “It is out of the question to stop investing in the United States, especially in the current economic slump.” [link]

This type of reaction should not be surprising at it reflects the transparent disconnect between ideological government officials and generally pragmatic business leaders.  Macron can stomp his reactionary feet, but corporate leaders and company owners are focused on the purpose of their enterprise, profit.

The American consumer market is the most valuable consumer market in the world.  We do not have the largest population; however, we do have the largest population with the ability to purchase things.  It is the ability to buy stuff that makes access to the U.S. market the golden ticket for foreign company sales and profit.

Despite the erosion of disposable income, an outcome of the exfiltration of U.S. wealth, Americans still have the ability to purchase goods and services at a level that is much, much higher than any other nation.  Lessening that wealth was/is the goal of modern leftists; Barack Obama stated so openly in his, “share the wealth” worldview.  Hence, the ideologues fight any policy, system or enterprise which protects or enlarges the American slice of the economic pie.

President Trump is putting American wealth, middle-class quality of life, at the forefront of policy.  Reciprocal and national security tariffs are arrows in his very unique quiver.   Multinational corporations, Democrats and professional leftists under multiple party names around the world are reacting to his policies that return the U.S.A to a position of gaining economically.

The EU taxes and subsidizes their population at a level that ultimately restricts and limits disposable income. Meanwhile the population of India, southeast Asia and Africa spend most of their income sustaining basic life needs.  Travel the world and you will see how most of these areas welcome the tourism of Americans.

Reciprocity is the term but ultimately President Trump’s goal is a zero-tariff trade relationship with each nation.  That targeted reciprocity includes direct duties and elimination of non-tariff barriers.

It’s not just other nations making our exports more expensive, the issue is also other nations putting rules, regulations and barriers against U.S. companies and products in order to make it impossible to sell our products into their countries.

The leaders of the tariff-affected governments well understand the objective; they are thrashing and gnashing their teeth because they want to retain the imbalance.  The companies within those nations, like this example of France, understand there is simply no way for them to pull out of America and still maintain their earnings and profits.

As stated, the various foreign governments will surge in opposition, then fail as the reality of the situation is encompassed in the brutally honest approach by President Trump.  However, it is important to remember, those foreign governments and foreign corporations also purchase influence in U.S. politics through lobbying.

We are the only government that has a formal and legal process by which another country can purchase influence for their specific interests.  No other nation OPENLY permits American companies to pay government officials to change policy in their nation.

When foreign politicians accept money for influence Washington DC publicly calls it bribery and corruption.  However, when those same DC politicians accept foreign money for influence, Washington DC calls it “lobbying.”