The article examines how competitive the French manufacturing industry was in the 1980s and early 1990s. It looks at various indicators to see if the industry stayed competitive. The researchers found that the manufacturing sector managed to maintain its competitive position during that time. They also studied how changes in export market shares were related to factors like labor costs, demand, and nonprice competitiveness. Their analysis showed that fluctuations in competitiveness, both in terms of price and nonprice factors, played a significant role in the changes in manufacturing trade flows.