Record France trade deficit in January has reinitiated the debate about the competitiveness of enterprises and remedies to adopt. This situation is rather paradoxical because the economic policy followed since 2013 has targeted, through tax cuts and social charges reductions, the improvement of their competitiveness. It is what was called the supply-side policy, in opposition to policies which stimulate demand through increase of purchasing power or public expenditures rise.
In January, exports fell by 9.2%, reaching only 37.2 billion euro when imports rose by 2.7%, reaching the unprecedented level of 45.2 billion. The deficit, equal to ...