For the last 15 years, foreign trade has been experiencing growing difficulties and the French trade balance has continued to worsen. In 2021, in an admittedly unusual context, it reached an all-time low of -€84.7bn. The low buoyancy of exports, compared to that of imports, puts France in a recurrent situation of external deficit. To restore France’s export performance, France has been implementing a policy to support business competitiveness since the 2000s. However, it was only in 2012 that France formally adopted a strategy to support foreign trade. The current strategy is based on three focal areas, including the identification of measures to strengthen the competitiveness of businesses and the structuring of sectors. The report published today by the Court of Accounts analyses the factors behind the decline in France’s export performance and the successive strategies implemented to respond to the difficulties that businesses face. It also presents the mechanisms for financing businesses wishing to export, as well as the support offering and its business model.
