France, Australia agree submarine row won't stop trade deal
Source: AP
By ROD McGUIRK
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — French and Australian officials said Monday that France’s anger over a canceled submarine contract will not derail negotiations on an Australia-European Union free trade deal.
France withdrew its ambassadors to the United States and Australia after U.S. President Joe Biden revealed last week a new tripartite alliance including Australia and Britain that would allow Australia to amass a fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines.
The deal sunk a 90 billion Australian dollar ($66 billion) contract for French majority state-owned Naval Group to provide 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines for Australia. The money would have been spent over 35 years.
French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault denied media reports that France was lobbying the European Union not to sign the trade deal with Australia that has been under negotiation since 2018.
In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, French submarine FNS Amethyste (S605) transits the Thames River in preparation to arrive at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn., Sept. 1, 2021. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday, Sept. 17, rejected Chinese criticism of Australia's new nuclear submarine alliance with the United States and said he doesn’t mind that President Joe Biden might have forgotten his name. (Chief Mass Communication Specialist Joshua Karsten/U.S. Navy via AP)
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