French Trade Gap Widens Sharply

(RTTNews) - France's trade deficit widened to a five-month high in February on rising imports, data from the customs office showed on Tuesday.

The trade shortfall rose unexpectedly to EUR 7.9 billion in February from EUR 6.5 billion in January. This was the biggest deficit since September.

Economists had forecast the deficit to narrow to EUR 5.4 billion. In February 2024, the trade deficit totaled EUR 5.7 billion.

Exports remained flat in February, while imports grew 2.4 percent from the previous month. On a yearly basis, exports were up 1 percent and imports moved up 0.6 percent.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced a new set of tariffs to address trading imbalances. The new 20 percent tariffs on all EU goods are likely to hit French exporters.