If I understand well, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French people (not the French State) but the pedestal was american : there was none when the statue arrived, and it waited for a year there in its crates.

"The promoters of the statue in France formed an organization, the French-American Union, in 1875. The group issued a statement calling for donations from the public and presenting a general plan specifying that the statue would be paid for by France, while the pedestal upon which the statue would stand would be paid for by Americans."

Source : https://www.thoughtco.com/who-paid-for-the-statue-of-liberty...