After ArcelorMittal, French minister in war-of-words with head of US tyre maker Titan

After calling Lakshmi Mittal, head of the world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal, a liar, French minister Arnaud Montebourg, has now started a war-of-words with Maurice Taylor, head of US tyre maker Titan.

But if the fiery French minister for industrial recovery may have got away with his insulting remarks on the quiet and media-shy London-based steel tycoon, he met more than his match with Taylor, known as the ''Grizz" on Wall Street for his bear-like no-nonsense style.

Responding to a letter written by Montebourg to Titan to invest in a loss-making Goodyear plant in Amiens in northern France, Taylor replied that he would have to be "stupid" to invest in the country, where workers are paid highly but work for only three hours a day.

Taylor's letter written on the 8th of this month, but published yesterday by French business daily Les Echos, says, "I have visited that factory a couple of times. The French workforce gets paid high wages but only works three hours."

Blasting the mentality of the union at the factory in Amiens, Taylor yesterday told French newspaper Le Figaro, "I didn't want to insult the French. I wanted to say that the union at the factory in Amiens has a screw loose. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three. I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way."

"If the French workers work, they will be as competitive as the Germans, British or the Americans. The problem is that the French are too expensive because of their particular benefits."