With elections looming, France reins in open EU trade policy

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron waves to farmers and workers as he visits the Roue farm in Cleder during a day trip centered on agriculture amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brittany, France, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/Pool/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France, facing a presidential election in weeks, has halted moves to clear an EU trade deal with Mexico which would allow in 20,000 tonnes of beef imports and wants to make it tougher to access the bloc's markets, diplomats say.

The European Union's second largest economy runs a consistent overall trade surplus with non-EU countries and its companies benefit from the lower tariffs of trade deals, but farmer sensitivity to beef imports in particular makes trade politically explosive.