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(From SGA I, Exposé XI).

You can prove it using the following two facts

  1. A product of simply connected proper varieties is simply connected (SGA I, X, 1.7). (*)

  2. The fundamental group, in particular, being simply connected, is a birational invariant of proper regular varieties (SGA I, X, 3.4).

(*) I do not know whether the properness is necessary here; it is required for the more general computation of the fundamental group of a product: in positive characteristic, one of the factor needs to be proper.

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