Asked on television channel LCI whether his firm and French companies in general could suffer because of the French position against the war, Henri Lachmann said: "I fear so and it's unacceptable."

"There's a certain number of Americans who, either for misconceived patriotic reasons or purely personal business interests, want to eliminate German and French competitors. For that reason, it's inacceptable. It's the yellow star, it's not acceptable," he said.

French opposition to the war in Iraq has led some Americans to call for boycotts of French goods.

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