Order Code RL32459
U.S.-French Commercial Ties
Updated April 7, 2008
Raymond J. Ahearn
Specialist in International Trade and Finance
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division

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U.S.-French Commercial Ties
Summary
U.S. commercial ties with France are extensive, mutually profitable, and
growing. With over $1.2 billion in commercial transactions taking place between the
two countries every day of the year, each country has an increasingly large stake in
the health and openness of the other’s economy.
France is the 9th largest merchandise trading partner for the United States and
the United States is France’s largest trading partner outside the European Union. In
2006, 62% or $38 billion of bilateral trade occurred in major industries such as
aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medical and scientific equipment, electrical machinery,
and plastics where both countries export and import similar products.
The United States and France also have a large and growing trade in services
such as tourism, education, finance, insurance and other professional services. In
2006, France was the sixth largest market for U.S. exports of services.
Although trade in goods and services receive most of the attention in terms of
the commercial relationship, foreign direct investment and the activities of foreign
affiliates can be viewed as the backbone of the commercial relationship. The scale
of sales of U.S.-owned companies operating in France and French-owned companies
operating in the United States outweighs trade transactions by a factor of almost five.
In 2006, France was the eleventh largest host country for U.S. foreign direct
investment abroad and the United States with investments valued at $65.9 billion
was the number one foreign investor in France. During that same year, French
companies had direct investments in the United States totaling $159 billion
(historical cost basis), making France the fifth largest investor in the United States.
French-owned companies employed some 473,000 workers in the United States in
2005 compared to 619,000 employees of U.S. companies invested in France.
Most U.S. trade and investment transactions with France, dominated by
multinational companies, are non-controversial. Nevertheless, three prominent issues
— agriculture, government intervention in corporate activity, and the war in Iraq —
have contributed periodically to increased bilateral tensions. The most pointed
perhaps arose in early 2003 with reports of U.S. consumer boycotts of French goods
and calls from some Members of Congress for trade retaliation against France (and
Germany) due to foreign policy differences over the Iraq War.
The foreign policy dispute, however, appears not to have had much impact on
sales of products such as French wines, perfumes and toiletries, travel goods and
handbags, and cheeses that are most prone to being boycotted. While some public
opinion polls at the time suggested support for economic boycotts as a way of
expressing opposition to France’s position on Iraq, an economic backlash appears not
to have materialized. Effective boycotts would jeopardize thousands of jobs on both
sides of the Atlantic. This report will be updated as needed. See also its companion
report, CRS Report RL32464, France: Factors Shaping French Policy, and Issues
in U.S.-French Relations, by Paul Gallis.

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Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Trade Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Investment Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Tensions and Disagreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Government Intervention in Corporate Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Iraq War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Appendix: Trade and Foreign Investment Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
List of Tables
Table 1. U.S. Trade with France in Goods, 1998-2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Table 2. U.S. Trade with France in Services, 1998-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Table 3. U.S. Trade Balance with France on Goods and Services, 1998-2006 . . . 3
Table 4. U.S. - France Commercial Interactions, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Table 5. U.S. Imports of Selective Luxury Goods from France, 2003-2007 . . . . . 8
Table A. Top Ten U.S. Trading Partners, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table B. France’s Top Trading Partners, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table C. Major U.S. Exports to France, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table D. Major U.S. Imports from France, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table E. U.S. Total Exports to France by Top 10 States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table F. Foreign Direct Investment in the United States:
Top Five Countries, 2002-2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table G. Employment of French Majority-Owned U.S. Affiliates,
by Top 15 States, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Table H. French Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 1990-2004 . . . 12
Table I. U.S. Foreign Direct Investment in France, 1990-2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
This report was written at the request of the co-chairs of the Congressional
French Caucus.

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U.S.-French Commercial Ties
Overview
U.S. commercial ties with France are extensive, mutually profitable, and
growing. Each country has an increasingly large stake in the health and openness of
the other’s economy. While the relationship dates back to the colonial period, it is
also constantly evolving.
The U.S. and French economies share many similarities. Based on a gross
domestic product (GDP) in 2006 of $13.2 trillion, the United States is the world’s
largest economy. France with a GDP of $2.2 trillion is the world’s sixth largest
economy. France’s population (2006) of 63.7 million has a per capita income of
$30,100 while the comparable figure for the United States, based on a population of
297 million, is $43,500. As industrialized economies, both share similar structural
attributes where over 75% of the civilian workforce is employed in services and less
than 3% in agriculture.1
At the same time, the state still plays a larger role in the economy of France than
in the United States. This is particularly true in the provision of services such as
education and health care, but also in energy, telecommunications, and transport
where state-owned companies play a prominent role. Policies geared to supporting
national champions in leading sectors, to influencing mergers involving French
companies, to screening foreign investments in “strategic” sectors, to sustaining a
network of personal relationships linking the heads of large companies with senior
civil servants, and to rejecting American-style laissez-faire capitalism all distinguish
France from the United States. Yet, prompted by mandates of the European Union’s
Single Market, the need to reduce budget deficits by raising revenues through
privatization efforts, as well as the need to de-regulate the economy, the French
government’s interventionist capabilities have been weakened in recent years. While
President Sarkozy has supported mergers to create “national champions” in nuclear
power, energy, and defense, he also has promoted market-oriented domestic reforms
to put France’s over-regulated economy back on a path of stronger growth.2
Trade Ties
Differences in the role the state plays in the economy, however, have not
precluded a growing number and type of international economic transactions from
making the two economies increasingly interdependent. In the case of merchandise
trade, France is the 9th largest trading partner for the United States and the United
1 CIA World Factbook, 2007 and OECD data.
2 The Economist Intelligence Unit, France: Country Profile 2007. Available online at
[http://store.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=schedule].

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CRS-2
States is France’s largest trading partner outside the European Union. As shown in
Table 1, total trade turnover (exports plus imports) totaled $69 billion in 2007, with
the United States running a $14.9 billion deficit.
Table 1. U.S. Trade with France in Goods, 1998-2007
(Billions of Dollars)
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Exports
18.9
20.4
19.9
19.0
17.0
19.6
20.7
24.2
27.4
Imports
25.7
29.8
30.4
28.2
29.2
31.5
33.5
37.1
41.6
Balance
-6.8
-9.4
-10.5
-9.2
-12.2
-11.9
-12.8
-12.9
-14.2
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Most striking about U.S.-French merchandise trade is the extent to which it is
concentrated in similar industries and sectors (so-called intra-industry trade). In
2006, $38 billion or 62% of bilateral trade occurred in major industries such as
aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medical and scientific equipment, electrical machinery,
and plastics where both countries export and import similar products (see Tables C
and D in the Appendix). Many of these products are components or capital goods
used in the production of finished goods in both the United States and France.
Furthermore, due to large amounts of foreign direct investment across both sides of
the Atlantic, much of this intra-industry trade takes place as trade between parent
companies and their affiliates (so-called intra-firm trade). This kind of trade, where
large multinational companies, such as Michelin and General Electric, trade between
their affiliates, has accounted for around 50% of total trade turnover in recent years.3
The overwhelming role that both intra-industry and intra-firm trade play in
merchandise trade tends to limit targets of any potential trade retaliation. This is
because restrictions placed on most of these traded items would adversely affect
domestic production as well as employment of the country imposing the restriction.
The United States and France also have a large and growing trade in services
such as tourism, education, finance, insurance, and other professional services. As
shown in Table 2, the U.S. exported $13.8 billion in services to France in 2006 and
imported $14.8 billion in services. These amounts make France the sixth largest
market for U.S. exports of services and the seventh largest provider of services to the
United States.
3 CRS calculation based on Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

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CRS-3
Table 2. U.S. Trade with France in Services, 1998-2006
(Billions of Dollars)
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Exports
9.6
10.0
10.5
10.1
10.7
11.1
12.8
13.1
13.8
Imports
7.4
8.0
10.5
9.9
9.6
10.3
11.6
12.5
14.8
Balance
2.2
2.0
0.0
0.2
1.1
0.4
1.2
0.6
-1.0
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
From 1998-2005, the United States experienced small surpluses in services trade
with France. In 2006, France ran a $1 billion surplus in services trade for the first
time in recent history. These services balances, as shown in Table 3, affect the
merchandise trade balance only modestly.
Table 3. U.S. Trade Balance with France on Goods and Services,
1998-2006
(Billions of Dollars)
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Balance
-4.1
-4.8
-9.4
-10.3
-8.1
-11.8
-9.3
-12.2
-13.9
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Investment Ties
While trade in goods and services receives most of the attention in terms of
U.S.-France commercial ties, foreign direct investment and the activities of foreign
affiliates can be viewed as the backbone of the commercial relationship. Compared
to trade flows, the scale of commercial activities of U.S.-owned companies operating
in France and French-owned companies operating in the United States outweighs
trade flows by a factor of almost five.
This key dynamic of the commercial relationship is illustrated in Table 4. In
2005, French companies sold $242.3 billion of goods and services to U.S. consumers
while U.S. companies sold $228.8 billion of goods and services to French consumers.
Of this combined $470.8 billion in sales, only $81.8 billion or 17% was accounted
for by international trade (exports of goods and services from French companies to
the U.S. and from U.S. companies to France). The vast majority (83%) was due to
sales by U.S. foreign affiliates producing and selling in France and French foreign
affiliates producing and selling in the United States. The combined U.S.-French
annual $470.8 billion sales figure translates into over $1.2 billion in commercial
transactions taking place every day of the year.

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CRS-4
Table 4. U.S. - France Commercial Interactions, 2005
( Billions of Dollars)
Commercial Transaction
France
U.S.
Totals
Exports of goods
33.8
22.4
56.2
Exports of services
12.5
13.1
25.6
Foreign affiliate sales
196
193
389
Totals
242.3 228.8
470.8
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Census Bureau.
In the case of foreign direct investment, France in 2006 was the eleventh largest
host country for overall U.S. foreign direct investment and the United States was the
number one foreign investor with investments valued at $65.9 billion (historical cost
basis). During the same year, French companies had direct investments in the United
States totaling $159 billion (valued on a historical cost basis), making France the fifth
largest foreign investor in the United States in stock terms (see Table F).
Manufacturing accounted for 44% of total French investments.4
The assets of some 2,067 French-owned companies operating in the United
States (2005 data) totaled $634 billion, up from $176 billion in 1990. The 1,326
U.S.-owned companies operating in France had $274 billion in total assets, up from
$78 billion in 1990 (see Tables H and I).
The total gross product or value added of French-owned companies operating
in the United States in 2005 was $48 billion, up from $19 billion in 1993 (the first
year this data was collected).5 This $48 billion gross product figure is equivalent to
the total gross national product of countries such as Morocco, Ukraine and Vietnam.6
Affiliate sales are the primary means by which French companies deliver goods
and services to U.S. consumers. In 2005, French affiliate sales totaled $196 billion,
a sum that is four times greater than the $46.3 billion in French exports of goods and
services to the U.S. Sales of U.S. affiliates operating in France totaled $193 billion
in 2005, a figure that exceeds the $35.5 billion in U.S. exports of goods and services
to France by a factor of more than five.
4 Unless otherwise noted, all foreign direct investment data come from the U.S. Department
of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
5 Gross product is defined as the market value of goods and services produced by labor and
property located in the United States. Gross product can be measured as gross output (sales
or receipts and other operating income plus inventory change) minus intermediate inputs
(purchased goods and services).
6 GDP data from World Bank Development Report, 2007.

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CRS-5
French-owned companies employed some 473,000 workers in the United States
in 2005, up from 338,000 in 1990 but down from a high of 655,000 in 2000.7 The
largest French companies such as Lafarge, Michelin, Sodexho (hotels and food
service), EADS (European Aeronautic and Defense Company), Pernod-Richard, and
Thomson historically account for around three-fourths of the employment.8 A
breakdown of employment by states (see Table G) indicates that the top 10 states
hosting French majority-owned U.S. affiliates subsidiaries (2005 data) are California
(55,000), New York (48,000), Texas (37,300), New Jersey (24,300), Pennsylvania
(23,200), Florida (16,600), South Carolina (16,200), Massachusetts (16,100), and
Ohio (15,400).
U.S. companies invested in France had 619,900 employees in 2005, the vast
majority French citizens. Of this total, 254,000 or 41% were employed in
manufacturing industries such as chemicals, computers and electronic products, and
machinery. An additional 57,100 people were employed in wholesale trade and
22,000 in scientific and technical services. French companies are also active in doing
research and development (R&D) in the United States.
Tensions and Disagreements
France, as a member of the European Union, adopts the same trade policy as
other members of the EU.9 By sharing common tariff and non-tariff policies with
other EU members and by adopting EU-wide regulations and standards, there are few
trade disputes that can be considered U.S.-French bilateral disagreements per se.
Most U.S. trade and investment with France, dominated by multinational companies
and intra-firm trade, is non-controversial. Nevertheless, three prominent issues —
agriculture, government intervention in corporate activity, and the war in Iraq —
have contributed to increased bilateral tensions in recent years.
Agriculture. Agricultural trade disputes historically have been the major
sticking point in U.S.-France commercial relations. Although the agricultural sector
accounts for a declining percentage of output and employment in both countries, it
has produced a disproportionate amount of trade tensions between the two sides. As
trade, as well as agriculture, is under the jurisdiction of the European Commission,
the problems, of course, are not technically bilateral in nature.
From the U.S. perspective, the restrictive trade regime set up by the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been the main problem.. It has been a longstanding
U.S. contention that the CAP is the largest single distortion of global agricultural
trade. American farmers and policymakers have complained over the years that U.S.
7 Based on U.S. data collected by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of
Commerce. French data indicate that French-owned companies operating in the United
States employ 550,000 persons, or 100,000 more than the U.S. data indicate.
8 Embassy of France. “Economic Relations between France and the United States,” January
2004. Available at [http://www.onfo-france-usa.org].
9 For discussion of U.S.-EU commercial ties, see CRS Report RL30608, EU-U.S. Economic
Ties: Framework, Scope, and Magnitude, by William Cooper.

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sales and profits are adversely affected by (1) EU restrictions on market access that
have protected the European market for European farmers; by (2) EU export
subsidies that have deflated U.S. sales to third markets; and by (3) EU domestic
income support programs that have kept non-competitive European farmers in
business. From an EU and French perspective, the CAP has been substantially
reformed in recent years and cannot be characterized as the largest source of
distortions in agricultural trade. On the contrary, under this view there is ample
evidence that EU (as well as Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian) farm exports
have been hampered by U.S. food aid policies in some developing countries.
France’s agricultural sector, which in terms of output and land is the largest in
Europe, has long been the biggest beneficiary of the CAP. Over the past several
years, French farmers have received about 20 to 25% of CAP outlays that have
averaged around $40 billion. Acting to continue benefits and subsidies for its
farmers, the French position, which is shared by many other EU members, can
determine the limits and parameters of the European Commission’s negotiating
flexibility on a range of agricultural issues that are of keen interest to the United
States. The most prominent and perhaps important example relates to current efforts
to get the WTO Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations back on track by
reducing agricultural subsidies and other barriers to market access. Other examples
where the French position, backed by many other EU members, arguably has made
settlement of disputes more difficult include expanded trademark protection for
wines, cheeses, and other food products linked to specific regions, and a ban on the
importation of beef treated with hormones.10
Government Intervention in Corporate Activity. Despite significant
reform and privatization over the past 15 years, the French government continues to
play a larger role in influencing corporate activity than does the U.S. government.
This difference is manifested not only in the French government’s continuing direct
control of key companies and its support of “national champions”, but also in its
continuing proclivity to influence mergers involving French firms. President Sarkozy
in a number of ways has continued to support this policy tradition. Nevertheless,
although bilateral disputes may be more prone to occur because of the French
government’s interventionist and regulatory tendencies, the dictates of EU laws as
well as the urgent need to raise the revenues through privatization efforts and to enact
market-oriented reforms, are weakening the French dirigiste tradition.
In 1997, the then socialist government restarted a process of privatization and
opening of government-controlled firms to private investment that had begun in the
1980s, and the program was continued by the center-right government that took
power in 2002. In 2003 and 2004, the government reduced its stakes in large
10 Trademark protection for geographic indications is also an issue of great importance for
Italy (parma ham and parmesan cheese), Greece (feta cheese), Hungary (tokay wine), and
Portugal (porto wine). Denmark, Italy, and Germany are other EU countries taking the lead
on limits on research and use of GM crops and most all EU members strongly support the
ban on the importation of beef treated with hormones. For further discussion of these
disputes, see CRS Report RS21569, Geographical Indications and WTO Negotiations, by
Charles Hanrahan, and CRS Report RS21556, Agricultural Biotechnology: The U.S.-EU
Dispute, by Charles Hanrahan.

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companies such as Air France-KLM (to 44.6 from 54.0%), France Telecom (to 42.2
from 54.5%), Renault (to 15.6 from 26.0%), and Thomson (to 2.0 from 20.8%). The
government still has stakes in Bull and Safran, and in 1,280 other firms. But it has
stated its intention to continue privatization, based largely on the same criteria the
Socialists had used.11
Despite its on-going privatization program, the French government continues
to promote national champions and “economic patriotism,” a concept that has been
used to justify opposition to foreign takeovers of French firms. This tendency has
been apparent in an effort by the government to strengthen a French takeover law and
a parallel effort to scrutinize sensitive foreign investments more closely. In the
summer of 2005, the government orchestrated a quick merger of two utilities,
publicly traded Suez SA, a French utility, and state-controlled Gaz de France (GDF),
to fend off a potential takeover by Enel of Italy. President Sarkozy is now exploring
ways to create “national champions” in other industries such as nuclear power and
defense. Such mergers would involve Areva, the state-owned nuclear group and
other French companies, plus the huge defense/aerospace companies Thales and
Safran.12
At the same time that Sarkozy is supporting interventionist policies designed to
enhance France’s economic and industrial strength, he is also promoting market-
oriented domestic reforms on issues such as taxation and labor markets. In this
context, President Sarkozy views increased competition as a way to get France’s
over-regulated economy on track for stronger growth.13
Iraq War. In the era of the Cold War, there was considerable concern that trade
disputes between allies could undermine political and security ties. Deep differences
over the Iraq war between the United States and many of its allies, particularly France
and Germany, reversed this Cold War concern into whether foreign policy disputes
can weaken or undermine strong commercial ties.
Specific concerns that divisions over Iraq could spill over into the trade arena
arose in early 2003 with reports of U.S. consumer boycotts of French goods and calls
from some U.S. lawmakers for trade retaliation against France (and Germany). The
spike in bilateral tensions and hard feelings, however, appears not to have had much
impact on sales of the products — such as wines, perfumes, handbags, and cheeses
— most prone to being boycotted.14 As shown in Table 5, U.S. imports of all four
of these French products increased in absolute terms from 2003 to 2007. Moreover,
the French share of U.S. total imports of these products has increased for cheese and
curd, stayed the same for perfumes and travel goods, and declined only for wines.
11 U.S. Department of Commerce, Country Commercial Guide-France, 2006.
12 Financial Times, “National Champions: French Energy Mergers Test Europe’s Free
Market Puritans,” September 27, 2007.
13 Hollinger, Peggy, Financial Times, “Sarkozy’s Uneven First 100 Days,” August 23, 2007.
14 This is an illustrative, not exhaustive, list of products that are likely to be targets of
boycotts because they have a strong element of brand identification with France, and tend
to be luxury items.

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But the decline in market share for wines (from 35% in 2003 to 31.6% in 2007)
started well before the Iraq War.15 It also should be pointed out that because the
euro grew substantially weaker during this 2003-2007 time frame, U.S. demand for
these products had to remain strong.
Although there are few signs that goods and services clearly identified with
France or the United States are being boycotted, some polls have found evidence of
public support among some segments of the U.S. population for expressing
opposition to foreign policy disagreements in the shopping malls. Nevertheless, a
substantial economic backlash appears unlikely because of the high degree of
economic integration. Effective boycotts would jeopardize thousands of jobs on both
sides of the Atlantic.
Table 5. U.S. Imports of Selective Luxury Goods from France,
2003-2007
(Millions of U.S. Dollars and % Share of U.S. Imports)
Product
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007*
Cheese and
$108.4
$131.8
$124.2
$134.4
$136.9
curd
(12.16%)
(13.3%)
(12.2%)
(13.1%)
(13.7%)
HTS-0406)
Wine of
$1,136
$1,047
$1,106
$1,329
$1,343
Fresh
(35.o%)
(30.8%)
(29.57%)
(32.02%)
(31.55%)
Grapes
(HTS-2204)
Perfumes
$717.6
$758.7
$832.6
$844.14
871.9
and Toilet
(63.4%)
(60.65%)
(62.01%)
(59.79%)
(62.48%)
Water
(HTS-3303)
Travel
$205.9
$239.1
$257.9
$296.0
$294.4
Goods,
(4.21%)
(4.20%)
(4.14%)
(4.27%)
(4.20%)
handbags,
wallets and
jewelry
cases
(HTS-4202)
Source: Global Trade Atlas
15 French wines have experienced a long-term declining share of total U.S. imports. In 1998
French wines accounted for 47.05% of total U.S. imports, in 2000 42.34% and in 2002
35.12%.

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Appendix: Trade and Foreign Investment Data
Table A. Top Ten U.S. Trading Partners, 2006
(billions of U.S. dollars)
Trade Turnover
Country
(exports and imports)
Canada
534
China
343
Mexico
332
Japan
208
Germany
130
United Kingdom
99
South Korea
78
France
61.3
Taiwan
61.1
Malaysia
49
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Table B. France’s Top Trading Partners, 2006
(billions of dollars)
Trade Turnover
Country
(exports plus imports)
Germany
178
Belgium
94
Italy 88
Spain
84
United Kingdom
75
United States
57
Source: IMF Directions of Trade.

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Table C. Major U.S. Exports to France, 2006
(billions of dollars)
Rank
Harmonized System 2-Digit Description
Value
1
84-Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances
6.5
such as gas turbines, computers, and office machinery
2
88-Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof
3.2
3
90-Optical, photographic, and medical instruments
2.6
4
85-Electrical machinery and equipment, such as integrated circuits
1.9
5
29-Organic chemicals, such as hormones and glycosides
1.6
6
30-Pharmaceutical products
1.3
7
98-Special Classification Provisions, NESOI
0.7
8
87-Vehicles and parts
0.6
9
38-Miscellaneous chemical products
0.6
10
39-Plastics and articles thereof
0.5
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission.
Table D. Major U.S. Imports from France, 2006
(billions of dollars)
Rank
Harmonized System 2-Digit Description
Value
1
84-Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances
5.9
such as gas turbines, bulldozers, and machinery for working rubber
or plastics
2
88-Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof
4.3
3
30-Pharmaceutical products
3.9
4
22-Beverages, and spirits such as wine and liqueurs
2.8
5
27-Mineral fuels, mineral oils and related products; bituminous
2.0
substances; mineral waxes
6
97-Works of art, collectors’ pieces and antiques
1.9
7
85- Electrical machinery and equipment such as electronic
1.8
integrated circuits, TV equipment and video cameras
8
90-Optical, photographic, medical or surgical instruments
1.6
9
87-Vehicles and parts
1.3
10
33-Essential oils, perfumes, and cosmetic preparations
1.3
Source: U.S. International Trade Commission.

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CRS-11
Table E. U.S. Total Exports to France by Top 10 States
(millions of dollars)
Rank
State
2004
2005
2006
All States
21,239
22,402
24,217
1
California
2,955
2,692
2,435
2
Washington
1,266
978
1,798
3
New York
1,232
1,407
1,493
4
Kentucky
1,084
1,288
1,482
5
Texas
1,162
1,267
1,474
6
Indiana
1,177
1,467
1,378
7
Connecticut
1,181
1,602
1,216
8
Illinois
731
834
1,055
9
Ohio
893
953
1,009
10
New Jersey
744
817
924
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Table F. Foreign Direct Investment in the United States:
Top Five Countries, 2002-2006
(billions of dollars)
Direct Investment Position on a Historical Cost Basis
Country
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
United Kingdom
215
220
251
282
303
Japan
151
160
176
190
210
Netherlands
150
153
167
171
189
Germany
139
156
163
184
203
France
142
139
148
143
159
Source: Survey of Current Business.

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CRS-12
Table G. Employment of French Majority-Owned U.S. Affiliates,
by Top 15 States, 2005
Total Employment
473,100
Rank
State
1
California
55,000
2
New York
48,000
3
Texas
37,300
4
New Jersey
24,300
5
Pennsylvania
23,200
6
Illinois
20,000
7
Florida
16,600
8
South Carolina
16,200
9
Massachusetts
16,100
10
Ohio
15,400
11
Indiana
14,300
12
Virginia
13,000
13
North Carolina
12,800
14
Georgia
12,700
15
Michigan
11,900
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Table H. French Foreign Direct Investment
in the United States, 1990-2004
Gross
No. of French-
No. of
Assets
Sales
Year
Product
owned Companies
Employees
(billions $)
(billions $)
(billions $)
1990
1,759
338,000
176
82
N/A
1991
1,893
364,900
162
89
N/A
1992
2,327
363,400
273
102
N/A
1993
1,862
359,400
214
97
19
1994
2,124
376,200
211
112
23
1995
2,406
346,000
232
111
24
1996
2,521
420,200
283
132
34
1997
2,239
415,000
328
136
36
1998
2,250
527,500
390
142
37
1999
2,686
614,300
523
170
45
2000
2,986
654,800
484
195
55
2001
2,918
578,600
535
188
40
2002
2,533
514,000
466
163
40
2003
2,423
456,000
531
155
41
2004
2,416
452,000
597
172
43
2005
2,067
473,100
634
196
48
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. The new benchmark survey
conducted by BEA in 2002 makes the times series data beginning in 2002 less comparable than before.

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CRS-13
Table I. U.S. Foreign Direct Investment in France, 1990-2005
No. of U.S.-owned
Assets
Sales
Year
No. of Employees
Companies
(billions $)
(billions $)
1990
1,026
419,700
78
102
1991
1,052
439,300
83
103
1992
1,067
404,800
89
104
1993
1,072
400,300
82
99
1994
1,262
397,800
133
107
1995
1,228
416,000
141
125
1996
1,270
448,800
146
136
1997
1,299
464,400
150
130
1998
1,260
492,300
168
139
1999
1,269
575,300
205
144
2000
1,256
589,300
187
138
2001
1,286
578,300
191
135
2002
1,314
583,200
213
139
2003
1,336
591,000
223
158
2004
1,328
563,000
235
163
2005
1,326
619,900
274
193
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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