Blown by the wind .. $ 100 billion is the volume of trade exchange between France and Islamic countries

The volume of trade exchange between France and Islamic countries exceeds $ 100 billion annually. Islamic countries have a major role in French foreign trade, and boycott campaigns may leave great effects on French trade and economy.

In 2019, the volume of French exports to the countries of the world reached 555 billion dollars, while its imports reached 638 billion dollars, with a deficit of 88 billion dollars.

And recently, popular calls have increased from Arab and Islamic countries to boycott French products, against the backdrop of offensive cartoons published by the latter of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, followed by pressures on Islamic facilities based in France.

Among the countries that have begun to implement boycott campaigns of French products are Kuwait, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, and many other countries.

Machinery and aerospace industries

Machinery exports accounted for 12% of the total value of France's exports abroad, while exports of the aerospace sector accounted for 9.6% of total exports.

The exports of the rest of the sectors came from the total value of exports, by 9.5% in the transport sector, while the equipment and equipment sector was 7.8%, medicine 6.4%, plastics 3.8%, perfumes and cosmetics 3.6%, and beverages 3.5%.

France's imports of machinery and computers constituted 13.1% of the country's total imports, while imports of the transport sector accounted for 11.5%, fuel 10.3%, equipment 8.9%, and medicine 3.9%.

Trade with Islamic countries

French exports to Islamic countries in 2019 amounted to about $ 45.8 billion, while its imports from those countries amounted to $ 58 billion, with a deficit of $ 12.2 billion.

Most of the imports of Islamic countries from France during that period were machines and gas turbines (gas turbines), products for the aviation industry, auto parts, cars, tractors, iron and steel, electronic and electrical equipment, and medicines.

As for France, during the aforementioned period, it imported from Islamic countries crude oil, natural gas, mineral oils, cars, auto parts, broadcast receivers, electric heating devices, cables, clothes, vegetables and fruits, and nuts.

Turkey is one of the most Muslim countries to import from France during the mentioned period.

The value of French exports to Turkey was 6.6 billion dollars.

It varied between machinery, cars, auto parts, tractors, iron and steel products, electrical and electronic equipment, medicine and defense industry products.

The value of French exports to Algeria during 2019 amounted to about $ 5.5 billion, and machinery, pipes, gas turbines, cars, electrical appliances and grains such as wheat made up most of Algerian imports from France.

Morocco imported from France turbo engines, pumps, machines, gas turbines, electrical circuits, auto parts, aerospace products, wheat and barley.

Morocco's imports from France amounted to $ 5.3 billion.

Qatar also imported from France aerospace products, electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, iron and steel, cosmetics and precious stones, with a value of $ 4.3 billion.

France's exports of electrical equipment, mineral oils and plastics to Tunisia amounted to 3.74 billion dollars during the mentioned period.

French exports to some other Islamic countries came at $ 3.67 billion to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia $ 3.34 billion, Egypt $ 2.58 billion, and Indonesia $ 1.75 billion.

France's exports to Malaysia amounted to $ 1.68 billion, Senegal $ 1.2 billion, Nigeria $ 657 million, Lebanon $ 627 million, Kuwait $ 589 million, the Sultanate of Oman $ 474 million, and Kazakhstan $ 474 million.

France's exports to Bahrain amounted to $ 471 million in 2019, Iraq $ 464 million, Pakistan $ 443 million, Iran $ 420 million, Mali $ 374 million, Bangladesh $ 295 million, and Jordan $ 237 million.

Libya's imports from France reached $ 210 million, Azerbaijan $ 160 million, Uzbekistan $ 150 million, Turkmenistan $ 112 million, and Bosnia and Herzegovina $ 98 million.

As for Chad, its imports from France amounted to 97 million dollars, Sudan 86 million dollars, Syria 52 million dollars, Kyrgyzstan 32 million dollars, and Afghanistan 26 million dollars.

French imports

France's imports from Turkey during 2019 amounted to about $ 9.8 billion, in auto goods, auto and engine parts, buses and mass transit means, tractors, gas turbines, refrigerators and freezers, water pumps, and others.

It also imported crude oil and mineral oils from Saudi Arabia, worth 7.5 billion dollars.

It imported cars, cables, electrical connection products, vegetables, fruits and clothes worth 6.3 billion dollars from Morocco.

Whereas Tunisia imported cables, telephones, TV receivers, measuring devices, and mineral oils worth $ 5 billion;

And Algeria includes natural gas, various oils, chemicals and fertilizer, worth 4.7 billion dollars.

French imports came from some other Islamic countries, by 4.4 billion dollars from Nigeria, Kazakhstan 3.55 billion dollars, Bangladesh 3.3 billion dollars, Malaysia 2.6 billion dollars, and Indonesia 2.1 billion dollars.

As for the UAE, it exported to France the value of $ 1.72 billion, Libya $ 1.6 billion, Pakistan $ 1 billion, Iraq $ 1 billion, Egypt $ 815 million, Qatar $ 760 million, Azerbaijan $ 713 million, and Bahrain $ 285 million.

While the value of Kuwait's exports to France amounted to $ 240 million, Bosnia and Herzegovina $ 174 million, the Sultanate of Oman $ 117 million, Lebanon $ 69 million, Sudan $ 53 million, Iran $ 52 million, and Jordan $ 29 million.

Last week, cartoons insulting to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, published by the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo", were shown on the walls of government institutions in the cities of Montigny and Toulouse, to pay tribute to a teacher who was beheaded last week in a suburb of Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in statements to him that they would not abandon the publication of offensive images of the Prophet Muhammad.

On October 19, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that they would close a mosque and several Islamic civil society associations and institutions, including the Association to Combat Islamophobia.

Because of these positions, calls have been made in Islamic countries to boycott French products, and over the past few days, protests against the cartoons offensive to the Holy Prophet have increased in several parts of the Islamic world and calls to boycott French products.

Des pays musulmans décrètent le djihad économique contre la France;

il faut cesser de leur vendre des armes et rendre coup pour coup! # Boycott #Caricatures # Koweït #Qatar #Jordanie #Turquie #Iranhttps: //t.co/CsQmIwI4xW

- Gilbert Collard (@GilbertCollard) October 25, 2020

A blow to France

Within the French reactions, Gilbert Kollard - one of the most famous French right-wing politicians who is anti-Muslim - acknowledged that the economic boycott by some Muslim countries against the backdrop of the angry campaigns against France represents a blow to France.

"Islamic countries impose economic jihad against France," Kollar said in a tweet. "We must stop selling weapons and respond to the strike with a counter strike."

A number of activists saw that this statement confirms the effectiveness of the boycott calls, as one of the tweeters wrote, "We will have a holiday if you do this, just let us alone."

In the same context, a French court approved - on Tuesday - the decision of the Ministry of the Interior to close the Bantan Mosque in the suburbs of Paris for a period of 6 months.

The administrative court in the city of Montreuil (North) ruled the closure of the Bantan Mosque for a period of 6 months, and considered that closing the mosque would not be a serious and illegal violation of basic freedoms.