French President Emmanuel Macron declared Tuesday in a fiery speech at the United Nations General Assembly that France would no longer accept "commercial agreements" with countries that do not "respect" the Paris climate accord, a clear shot at the United States, the only country that has not agreed to the accord.
Macron clarified his comments to reporters after the speech, saying that while accords for specific industries might be allowed, large, sweeping trade deals would not.
"There could be accords for individual sectors, such as automobiles and pharmaceuticals, as long as they are neutral on climate," he said. "But major accords across all sectors that go against climate conventions, that's not OK."
France does not have trade agreements of its own because the European Union negotiates and signs such deals on behalf of its members. The U.S. and the EU opened talks of a trade agreement in 2016, but negotiations ended after President Donald Trump took office.
