Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
EU Goes on China Trade Offensive After Getting ‘Played’
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John Ainger and Alberto Nardelli
Tue, April 16, 2024 at 12:00 a.m. PDT
(Bloomberg) -- European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen is unleashing a barrage of trade restrictions against China as she seeks
to follow through on a pledge to make the EU a more relevant political player
on the global stage.
In addition to an investigation into Chinese subsidies for
electric vehicles, the European Union is looking into whether Beijing provided
illegal support for windparks on the continent. It has also brought subsidy
probes into solar and railway firms and will shortly launch an inquiry into
China’s procurement of medical devices.
The deluge of investigations is a reflection of the EU’s increasingly assertive approach to China, threatening restrictive trade measures that could result in tariffs, cutting China off from European markets, and potentially leading to a trade war. But for some, it’s a matter of the EU finally taking steps to make international trade fair again.
“We recognize what we see as the Chinese playbook,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief told Bloomberg Television last week. “Knowing you have been played teaches you that you need to watch out, to be much more observant and to take better actions.”
European officials including former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi have argued that China’s trade abuses are at the heart of the biggest social and political problems that have plagued Europe and the US over the past 20 years. The lack of international rules and dispute settlements created unfair competition that led voters to turn against democratic values because, Draghi said in a February speech, they “justifiably felt they have been left behind.”
The EU’s approach aligns with some Western allies, who are taking a firmer stance with Beijing. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to China earlier this month, saying that the vast output of its factories had become a global problem. The US won’t take “anything off the table,” including the possibility of additional tariffs, to stem the flood of Chinese goods, she told CNN over the weekend.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is visiting China this week, warned officials in Beijing to address overcapacity and to treat foreign companies better, saying “competition must be fair.” Chinese leader Xi Jinping told his German counterpart that a surge in clean-technology exports have helped the world tackle inflation.
“We are not in favor of general systems of tariffs, quotas and alike because in the end, trade measures, if they are not intelligent and considerate, tend to cause more damage than good,” Sven Giegold, Germany’s state secretary for climate, said at a meeting of energy ministers Monday. “But at the same time, we should not be naive.”
EU leaders will this week step up efforts to defend the bloc against unfair trade practices as part of its efforts to come forward with a new competitiveness deal, according to draft conclusions for the summit seen by Bloomberg. The document highlights that the bloc is facing increasingly “assertive policy measures” by rivals, most notably when it comes to subsidies.
It’s in the area of clean tech where the EU is most fervently fighting to stave off competition from cheap Chinese imports of everything from EVs to solar panels. An industry backlash has raised concerns that its domestic green technologies could be hijacked during the transition to net-zero by the middle of the century.
(to be continued)
Translation
（彭博）— 歐盟委員會主席馮德萊恩正在對中國實施一系列貿易限制，因為她尋求兌現令歐盟在全球舞台上成為更具影響力的政治參與者的承諾。
除了進行調查中國對電動車的補貼外，歐盟還在調查北京是否為在歐洲大陸的風電場提供非法支持。 亦調查中國對太陽能和鐵路公司進行了補貼，並將很快對中國採購醫療設備的情況發起調查。
大量調查反映了歐盟對中國日益強硬的態度，威脅採取限制性貿易措施，這些措施可能導致關稅、切斷中國與歐洲市場的聯繫，並可能導致貿易戰。 但對某些人來說，這是歐盟最終採取措施讓國際貿易再次公平的問題。
歐盟競爭主管 Margrethe Vestager 上週對彭博電視台表示: 「我們見識到我們所看到的中國劇本」。 「知道自己被愚弄了，你需要保持警惕，更加善於觀察，並採取更好的行動」。
包括前歐洲央行行長 Mario Draghi 在內的歐洲官員認為，中國的貿易濫用行為是過去20年來困擾歐洲和美國的最大社會和政治問題的核心。 Draghi 在二月的演講中表示，缺乏國際規則和解決爭端機製造成了不公平競爭，導致選民反對民主價值觀，因為他們「有理由感到自己被遺棄」。
歐盟的做法與一些西方盟友一致，他們對北京採取了更強硬的立場。 美國財政部長耶倫本月稍早訪問中國，稱中國工廠的高產量已成為全球性議題。 她週末對美國有線電視新聞網(CNN)表示，美國將不會 “排除任何措施”，包括徵收額外關稅的可能性，以阻止中國商品的大量湧入。
本周正在中國訪問的德國總理朔爾茨警告北京官員解決產能過剩問題，並更好地對待外國企業，並表示「競爭必須公平」。 中國領導人習近平告訴德國方，潔淨技術出口的激增幫助世界應對通貨膨脹。
德國氣候國務秘書 Sven Giegold 在周一舉行的能源部長會議上表示：「我們不贊成關稅、配額等一般制度，因為最終，如果貿易措施不合理、不周全，往往弊大於利」。 「但與此同時，我們也不應該天真」。
根據彭博社看到的峰會結論草案，歐盟領導人本週將加大力度，捍衛歐盟免受不公平貿易行為的影響，作為提出新的競爭力協議的一部分。 該文件強調，歐盟正面臨競爭對手日益 “脅逼性政策措施” ，尤其是在補貼方面。
在潔淨技術領域，歐盟最熱衷於避免從電動車到太陽能板的中國廉價進口產品的競爭。 業界的強烈反對引發了人們的擔憂，即在本世紀中葉向淨零轉型的過程中，歐盟內綠色技術可能會被別人掌控。
（待續）
