Businesses "have a role to play" at the G7, according to the president of the Medef.

While France is chairing the G7 this year, the club of seven major economic powers (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom), the main French employers' organization is simultaneously chairing the B7 (Business 7).

During a Medef event as part of the G7 Trade meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Paris, Mr. Martin stressed that "the B7 has a role to play" because it is "the place where concerns on the ground are transformed into credible and legitimate recommendations for G7 leaders".

"Business is not a secondary issue of national power, but one of its powerful engines," he added.

"When strategic sectors are threatened by massive distortions, organized overcapacity or coercive practices, the B7 expects the G7 to respond with one voice, to act in a coordinated manner," the Medef president also said.

As for the security of supply chains, "this also implies, according to Mr. Martin, managing our own contradictions by deciding to exploit our own mineral, energy or agricultural resources or to invest in our infrastructure without leaving room for obstructing forces."

"No serious resilience strategy will be built on a purely administrative logic or according to political whims, or even short-term demagoguery," he added.

The Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Nicolas Forissier, replied that indeed, "companies had a crucial role to play in helping us move forward".

But "if we want to secure our supply chains, particularly in critical minerals or rare earths, companies must invest in securing their own supply chains," he added.

"Otherwise, we will not be able to build a sufficiently solid and resilient economic model in the face of a near-monopoly situation in China, which produces, recycles and sells nearly 80% of rare earths."

In summary, he concluded, "we need to be able to rely on each other."