Sharjah24 – AFP: French President Emmanuel Macron warned Wednesday that subsidies paid to US companies under a vast green energy plan could "split the West," as trade tensions clouded his high-profile state visit. This came in a statement he delivered during his second international visit to the United States.

While voicing support for the environmental goals of President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act, Macron said in a speech at the French Embassy in Washington that "these are choices that will split the West."

He said he had informed US lawmakers, with "frankness and friendship" that "what has happened in recent months is a challenge for us."

Emmanuel Macron, French president stated, "There is a risk today, which we need to address as friends. The risk is that, faced with the challenges I mentioned, the United States of America may first look inward, which is normal, we do the same, then look at their rivalry with China, and that in a way, Europe and therefore France become a balancing variable."

The French president added, "What has happened in recent months is a challenge for us, because we are starting to have differences on energy issues, and the cost of the war (in Ukraine, ed) is not the same in Europe and in the United States. But most importantly, the choices that have been made, for which I share the goals, in particular the Inflation Reduction Act, or the Chips Act, are choices that will split the West. Because they create such differences between the United States of America and Europe, that for those who work at many companies, they will just tell themselves, we are not investing on the other side of the ocean any longer."

Emmanuel Macron concluded, "The alignment between the United States of America and France and other Europeans is key on this, and it has been real since the first day of the conflict. It is extremely important."