French army sweaters are not made in China… but in Morocco

“The French army chooses Chinese sweaters rather than Made in France sweaters. “This is the title of an article published by France Bleu which aroused great indignation, this Thursday, November 4. According to the radio, a small French textile company, the Regain brand, based in Castres (Tarn), would have lost a call for tenders launched by the Ministry of the Armed Forces for the manufacture of sweaters. La Grande Muette would have preferred a Chinese manufacturer, to the detriment of the French manufacture.

This article was published by France Bleu on the sidelines of the arrival in the Tarn of Arnaud Montebourg, defender of relocation and candidate for the next presidential election. Very quickly, the article aroused the anger of political figures in the campaign. Marine Le Pen, for example, arrested Emmanuel Macron, guilty of subsidizing “Chinese imports and relocations. It is time for French money to support the French economy, ”she said.

“Morocco or Tunisia”

But the day after its publication, the France Bleu article drew a scathing denial from the Ministry of the Armed Forces. In the middle of the day, Hervé Grandjean, his spokesperson, describes the information as "fake news": he explains that the contract in question was in fact awarded to two French companies in September 2020, the companies Saint James and Léo Minor. , which produce “either in France or in Morocco or Tunisia”.

Confirmed by the result of the call for tenders. The latter covers three batches of "jersey, pullover and sweaters". Two of these lots, whose total amount of 2.2 million euros represents the bulk of the market, were indeed won by Léo Minor, who is partly based in Morocco, in Casablanca.

In a new article, France Bleu explains its misunderstanding by indicating that the press invitation sent by Arnaud Montebourg's teams justified his visit "by the symbol of a public order sent to China". What the candidate did not say publicly this Thursday, mentioning only "a foreign producer" before publishing a press release pointing to the company Léo Minor in the afternoon.

"Disguised relocations"

Because despite the corrective, the former minister persists: if it is not a Chinese company, the French army would indeed practice "disguised relocations" . "Leo Minor has only a representative office in France and no factory," he denounces. After the replacement of the Famas made in Germany, the pistol made in Austria, the abandonment of the Manurhin in the hands of an Emirati group, the army once again shows its failure in the most elementary economic patriotism.

With Marianne, the company Léo Minor confirms that its clothes are manufactured abroad. “The products delivered to the army are actually made and assembled in Morocco. In France, we only do the search for suppliers, the supply and the design of the products”, assures Antoine Auzépy, the general manager of Léo Minor.

On its website, the company prides itself on being the "No. 1 supplier to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces", with 6 million pieces of clothing supplied since 2009. In fact, the company is very regularly crowned at the Outcome of the tender procedures: since 2015 alone, we have found no less than 33 public contracts awarded to Léo Minor by Defense. The largest contract provides for the delivery of “bulletproof vest tactical shirts” spread over “seven years”, for a total cost of 84 million euros. Adding the other purchases, which include for example “camouflage balaclavas” and “technical undergarment[s]”, the total amount of these orders approaches 250 million euros. So much money spent by the state to run factories outside France.

78%, really?

Moreover, the Nîmes industrialist is no less patriotic than his competitors, according to his managing director. “This is the lot of all French textile companies, even when they sign public contracts. When it comes to large series, all the manufacturing is done abroad,” assures Antoine Auzépy.

Alongside the French actors who subcontract abroad, the Ministry of the Armed Forces has also placed orders with companies entirely based outside France in recent years. In July 2019, a Bulgarian company, for example, won a tender for 43 million euros to ship "short-sleeved shirts" to France. Another example: in early 2021, a trio of companies based in Belgium, Romania and Bangladesh won a contract for “sleeping bags and accessories”, for a total envelope of 32 million euros. By removing these foreign actors, “78% of the clothing of French soldiers is provided by French suppliers”, specified the spokesperson for the ministry on Twitter. But among them, how many relocate their production to countries with less expensive labour?