is foreign tax credit allowed when US no taxable income in US

[Konrad Wallerstein]

I have a few rentals in the USA (Florida) and in France.  The tax systems are quite different.  In France for furnished flats, for example, taxable income is 50% of gross income with no deductions allowed.  Simple but different.  I file a tax return in France on the French properties and recently have had to pay tax on revenues.  In the USA I file the Florida properties and the French properties using US tax rules.  Under these the French properties are not generating a profit.  But I have paid tax in France and so (I think) can claim a foreign tax credit in the US.

Does anyone have any experience of foreign tax credits and do you know if I can claim the credit even if I do not have taxable income from those properties in the US?