“This blow from Joe Biden, we did not see it coming…” When, at the end of last July, the United States adopted the Inflation Reduction Act with the key to massive aid for companies producing on American soil, rare are the European leaders who immediately measure the impact of the coming tsunami. “I welcome the signing of the IRA” even hastens to tweet the very Atlanticist President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, rejoicing that the United States is finally launching a “green” offensive.
During the month of August, however, concern rose in several European capitals. The American plan is powerful. And it adds to the fact that energy costs three to five times less across the Atlantic. How to resist ? “We quickly realized that with the IRA, the United States had put in place a formidable suction pump for foreign investment”, testifies a senior leader. Stunned, Europeans also discover that the Biden administration is not content to open a “counter”. It approaches the largest European companies directly at the level of CEOs and executive committees. “Some industrialists have been contacted directly by advisers from the White House, we have had proof of this”, we choke on the European side.