歐盟在被「愚弄」後對華發動貿易攻勢 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

EU Goes on China Trade Offensive After Getting ‘Played’ (2/2)

John Ainger and Alberto Nardelli

Tue, April 16, 2024 at 12:00 a.m. PDT

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Over the past decade, China has come to dominate the market for clean tech, with domestic industries buoyed by massive support from the state. Take the wind sector as an example. Companies are able to sell products on average 20% lower than European and US peers, backed by deferred payments systems. The EU has a trade balance deficit of €462 million last year, according to the commission.

The EU said last month that it had found “sufficient evidence” that the imports of new battery electric vehicles from China received subsidies including direct transfer of funds, tax breaks, or public provision of good or services below market prices. This means the bloc could introduce provisional tariffs on Chinese imports by July, with definitive duties hitting by November.

The EU is also using a new tool — its foreign subsidies regulation — to crack down on bidding from Beijing for a railway tender in Bulgaria, as well as solar parks in Romania. Vestager last week announced an early-stage probe of Chinese involvement in wind parks in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria.

“We are using our trade tools and our tools that come with the foreign subsidies regulation in full in order to restore fair competition,” Vestager said.

The bloc has also started surveying its industry about the use of Chinese legacy chips, which could see action taken in future against older — but widely used — semiconductors.

The investigations are part of a concerted EU drive to keep global markets open and based on rules, protect supply lines and bring production closer to home. The moves have tested relations with Beijing, which has launched its own investigations into EU trade practices.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire also issued a warning on Monday about fair competition. “Europe must assert its economic interests between an increasingly protectionist US and China’s industrial over-capacity that risks overflowing into the European market,” he told reporters.

The EU is also set to launch an investigation into China’s procurement of medical devices in a bid to address concerns that Beijing unfairly favors domestic suppliers, Bloomberg reported Monday.

These trade measures are not just “symbolic,” said Maximo Miccinilli, head of energy and climate at the consulting firm FleishmanHillard EU. The “EU is working really working hard case by case and will continue to do so, providing there is no u-turn on trade after elections, which I do not expect,” he added referring to the region’s vote in two months time.

When the EU put forward it’s Net Zero Industry Act last year — a plan to make sure 40% of the EU’s clean tech needs were produced domestically — the focus was clearly on trying to rival the US’s enormous package of support under the Inflation Reduction Act. Since then, the focus has moved squarely toward China, including through the insertion of provisions in the NZIA to make sure that Chinese firms find it more difficult to bid for renewable energy contracts.

But ridding itself of cheap Chinese clean tech may hamper its ability to slash emissions by 55% this decade, with the bloc already off-track. Vestager has warned that other sectors, like EVs or chips, could share a similar fate to solar panels, which the EU has lost out on since investing heavily in the technology over a decade ago. Now more than nine in 10 are produced in China.

“The EU must ensure that all rules applied to domestic players are also applied to foreign players acting in its market,” said Simone Tagliapietra, a senior researcher at the Bruegel think tank. “Its all about level playing field, not about trade wars.”

--With assistance from Tom Hancock.

Translation

（繼續）

在過去的十年裡，中國已經主導了潔淨技術的市場，國內產業得到了國家的大力支持。 以風電產業為例。 在延期付款系統的支持下，該公司的產品售價平均比歐洲和美國同業低 20%。 據歐盟委員會稱，去年歐盟的貿易逆差為 4.62 億歐元。

歐盟上個月表示，已發現 “充分證據” ，證明從中國進口的新型純電動汽車曾獲得補貼，包括直接資金轉移、稅收減免或以低於市場價格的價格公開提供商品或服務。 這意味著歐盟可能會在 7 月前對中國進口商品徵收臨時關稅，並在 11 月前徵收最終關稅。

歐盟也利用一項新工具 - 外國補貼監管 - 來打擊北京對保加利亞鐵路招標以及羅馬尼亞太陽能園區的招標。 Vestager上周宣布對中國參與西班牙、希臘、法國、羅馬尼亞和保加利亞風電場進行早期調查。

Vestager表示： “我們正在充分利用自身的貿易工具和對外國補貼監管的工具，以恢復公平競爭。”

歐盟也開始調查其行業有關中國傳統晶片的使用情況，這可能會導致未來對較舊但被廣泛使用的半導體採取行動。

這些調查是歐盟共同努力的一部分，旨在保持全球市場開放並基於規則、保護供應線並使生產更接近國內。 這些措施考驗了與北京的關係，北京已經對歐盟的貿易行為展開了調查。

法國財政部長 Bruno Le Maire 週一也就公平競爭發出警告。 他對記者表示： “歐洲必須在日益保護主義的美國和中國工業產能過剩之間維護其經濟利益，中國的工業產能過剩有可能溢出到歐洲市場。”

根據彭博社週一報道，歐盟也將對中國醫療器材採購展開調查，以解決人們對北京不公平地偏袒國內供應商的擔憂。

顧問公司 FleishmanHillard EU 的能源和氣候主管 Maximo Miccinilli 表示，這些貿易措施不僅僅是「象徵性的」。 他在談到兩個月後該地區的投票時補充道， “歐盟正在逐個個案努力調查，並將繼續這樣做，前提是在選舉後貿易不會出現180度大轉變，那不是我預期見到的。”

當歐盟去年提出 淨零工業法案 時 - 該計劃旨在確保歐盟 40% 的潔淨技術需求在國內生產  - 其重點顯然是試圖與美國根據《通膨削減法案》提供的巨額支持相抗衡。 從那時起，焦點就直接轉向中國，包括透過在淨零工業法案 (NZIA)中插入條款，以確保中國企業在競標再生能源合約變得更加困難。

但擺脫廉價的中國潔淨技術可能會阻礙其在本十年內將排放量削減 55% 的能力，而歐盟已經偏離了軌道。 Vestager警告說，電動車或晶片等其他產業可能會遭遇與太陽能板類似的命運，自從十多年前大力投資該技術以來，歐盟已經失去了太陽能板。 現在超過十份之九是在中國生產的。

Bruegel智庫高級研究員 Simone Tagliapietra 表示： “歐盟必須確保適用於國內參與者的所有規則也適用於在其市場中的外國參與者。” “這一切都是為了公平競爭環境，而不是貿易戰。”

              So, China is going to face two difficult trading partners at the same time, respectively EU and the US.  EU’s aim is to keep global markets open and based on rules, and to protect supply lines and bring production closer to home. This goal is similar to that of the US. Many countries are trying to protect their own industries and globalization is being challenged.

Note:

1. Definitive duty is the final legal assessment or collection of a duty or tax where the facts as finally established show that there is dumping and injury has been caused.