Post by account_disabled on Feb 20, 2024 5:36:39 GMT -5
The EU has fired a warning shot at China ahead of high-level trade talks, demanding that Beijing make “progress” to reduce its trade deficit, which reached €396 billion last year, described by the top diplomat. block's rank as the highest in the "world." history of humanity.” The comments came ahead of EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis' arrival in Shanghai on Friday and amid rising tensions between the bloc and China, which is angered by an EU anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles. and restrictions on chip manufacturing equipment. “China's trade surplus with the EU last year was the highest in human history,” Jorge Toledo, EU ambassador to China, said at a panel discussion in Beijing on Thursday. He cited a report published this week by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China that lists 1,058 recommendations to overcome what he called market barriers.
Trade barriers were “getting worse,” he added. "We need to address this and we need progress, and I'm afraid we haven't made much progress in the last three or four years." The centerpiece of Job Function Email Database Dombrovskis' trip will be a high-level economic and trade dialogue with his Chinese counterparts on Monday, when both sides are expected to air a growing list of grievances. Dombrovskis has said the bloc was seeking to “de-risk” its supply chains due to geopolitical tensions, rather than seeking a full “decoupling” of the world's second-largest economy. Topping the list for Beijing will be the EU's announcement last week of an investigation into whether Chinese electric vehicles were "distorting" the market, which could result in tariffs for the country's automakers. Many Chinese electric vehicle makers, facing overcapacity in the domestic sector, see exports to Europe as necessary to survive.
European automakers say lower labor and energy costs give their Chinese rivals an unfair price advantage. Beijing is also furious about US-led export controls on semiconductor technology and chip-making equipment, and has retaliated with restrictions on the Dutch company ASML that covers the sale of advanced lithography machinery in the country. "Unfortunately, some countries, being politically correct, give in to pressure from a superpower at the expense of Europe's prosperity and stability," Wu Hongbo, Beijing's special representative for European affairs, said at the conference. “It should be up to Europe and European countries to decide what to sell to China. “It shouldn’t be a decision made by someone else on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Trade barriers were “getting worse,” he added. "We need to address this and we need progress, and I'm afraid we haven't made much progress in the last three or four years." The centerpiece of Job Function Email Database Dombrovskis' trip will be a high-level economic and trade dialogue with his Chinese counterparts on Monday, when both sides are expected to air a growing list of grievances. Dombrovskis has said the bloc was seeking to “de-risk” its supply chains due to geopolitical tensions, rather than seeking a full “decoupling” of the world's second-largest economy. Topping the list for Beijing will be the EU's announcement last week of an investigation into whether Chinese electric vehicles were "distorting" the market, which could result in tariffs for the country's automakers. Many Chinese electric vehicle makers, facing overcapacity in the domestic sector, see exports to Europe as necessary to survive.
European automakers say lower labor and energy costs give their Chinese rivals an unfair price advantage. Beijing is also furious about US-led export controls on semiconductor technology and chip-making equipment, and has retaliated with restrictions on the Dutch company ASML that covers the sale of advanced lithography machinery in the country. "Unfortunately, some countries, being politically correct, give in to pressure from a superpower at the expense of Europe's prosperity and stability," Wu Hongbo, Beijing's special representative for European affairs, said at the conference. “It should be up to Europe and European countries to decide what to sell to China. “It shouldn’t be a decision made by someone else on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.