After strained U.S.-France connections beneath Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed Sunday to work closely with each other to combat the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.
Their first conversation since Biden's inauguration aimed at mending frayed ties between the historic allies. Biden"stressed his devotion to strengthening the transatlantic relationship" through NATO and the EU. Macron pledged his"determination to work at the side of the U.S."
After four decades of"America First" under Trump, the new U.S. president and also French leader see eye-to-eye about the significance of international collaboration to fight climate change and COVID-19 and in negotiating with Iran.
However, Macron's office said the two guys wouldn't shy away from thorny issues. France is notably pushing for globally consistent taxation on U.S. tech powerhouses such as Google or Amazon, which resulted in an ongoing trade dispute with Washington under Trump. Along with the U.S. and EU are imposing tit-for-tat tariffs over subsidies to airplane makers Boeing and France-based Airbus.
Macron emphasized the significance of working jointly inside the World Health Organization -- which Trump left -- to help guarantee vaccine distribution to poor countries.
According to a White House announcement, Biden agreed to work with France on China, the Middle East, Russia and the Sahel region of Africa, in which France is leading a global military operation against Islamic extremists.
Despite starkly different political views, Macron and Trump developed a remarkably chummy relationship early on - including a fawning White House reception for the French pioneer and intimate Eiffel Tower dinner for both couples -- that later soured amid Trump's increasingly mercurial and protectionist policies.
