France losing trade ground in its former ‘crown jewel’ – media
French exporters are losing access to Algeria as the North African country’s authorities restrict imports from France amid a deepening diplomatic feud, Le Monde reported on Friday.
French exports fell 34% year-on-year to €466 million ($515 million) in August-September, the newspaper said, citing French customs figures.
Around 30 businesses and trade groups met with French government officials on November 6 to discuss the deteriorating trade relationship, according to the newspaper. During the meeting, exporters reportedly complained of rejected import approvals in Algeria, plunging orders, and uncertainty over their production sites in France. An industry representative told Le Monde that import requests for goods made in France or passing through French ports are being refused.
“The ministry representatives did not give much of an answer to our concerns except to say they would continue dialogue with Algiers. It was rather pointless,” one participant told the outlet. Another person involved in bilateral relations described the restrictions as “an obvious boycott.”
According to figures on the French Foreign Ministry’s website, updated last week, bilateral trade fell 14.8% to €9.4 billion in 2025, with French exports declining 12%. The ministry links the downturn to restrictions targeting French businesses and products, along with lower hydrocarbon prices. Algeria remains France’s second-largest trading partner in Africa after Morocco, according to the ministry.
Algerian outlet TSA reported in September that the country is diversifying its economic partners and reducing imports to encourage domestic production. French machinery, pharmaceutical, chemical, and automotive exports all declined over the preceding year.
Relations between Paris and its former colony have long been strained by unresolved grievances over France’s 132-year colonial rule, which ended in 1962, as well as migration and security disputes.
Ties deteriorated sharply in July 2024 when French President Emmanuel Macron endorsed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty. Algeria withdrew its ambassador, accusing Paris of undermining the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
The two countries have since taken retaliatory measures against each other, including the reciprocal expulsion of 12 diplomatic personnel in April 2025 following France’s detention of an Algerian consular employee over suspected involvement in the alleged abduction of government critic Amir Boukhors.
Algiers scrapped a 2013 visa-waiver agreement for diplomatic and service passport holders and ended the French Embassy’s free use of state-owned properties after Macron ordered tighter visa requirements for Algerian diplomats.
Attempts to repair ties this year included visits to Algiers by French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez in February and Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin in May, followed by Algerian Interior Minister Said Sayoud’s trip to Paris in June.
Tensions flared again in July after a French appeals court refused to release the Algerian consular official, according to Le Monde. Reuters reported last month that Algeria instructed producers to halt exports of urea fertilizer to France, further widening the trade dispute.
