BAD NEWS FOR CHIRAC:

PARIS, April 15 — An American backlash against French products and businesses has started to bite, dashing hopes here that appeals in the United States to punish France economically for opposing the war in Iraq would go unheeded.

American importers of French wine are reporting sharp drops in sales in the past two months, and other French products also have been affected. The Federation of Wine Exporters has called a meeting Thursday to discuss how to respond. . . .

“It’s a very, very deep reaction,” said Carreras, who is French. “We would never have expected something so lasting. I think it has been accelerating even in the last four weeks.”

The importers, angry and frustrated, said the government in Paris did not comprehend the effect of its war position on French businesses.

Heh.

UPDATE: MerdeinFrance notes another anti-American remark by De Villepin. Yeah, that’ll help.

Daniel Drezner has more, and it’s all bad news for Chirac. And Jim Treacher, who has contacts everywhere, has mysteriously obtained a transcript of the Bush-Chirac phone conversation. It’s about what I expected. . . .

UPDATE: On a more serious note, this is worth reading.