Manfred Weber, head of the European People's Party in the European Parliament, ’, warned that “ needs to turn a new page in its relations with China. Bild am Sonntag.
“ called on the bloc to defend its economic interests more clearly and consistently and to reset its relations with China.
Ahead of the EU summit in ’, FranceMany ’-led member states are pressuring Beijing to take a tougher stance on ’, and China warns that ’'s overproduction and low-priced exports are undermining the already fragile European economy.
Think tanks, politicians and the media are sounding the alarm about the upcoming EU-China trade war. On May 29, the European Commission said in a press release that although China is a critical partner of ’, the current state of the ’ trade and investment relationship is not sustainable.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič confirmed this idea after meeting with his Chinese counterpart, trade envoy Li Chenggang, at Paris’te on Thursday. He told reporters that EU and Chinese officials would engage in deeper dialogue to resolve the trade deficit with “China, which has become unsustainable.
Weber echoed that sentiment and said: The picture is“ said the nearly one billion-euro ” trade deficit per day puts Europe’'s industrial base and high-quality jobs at risk. Either we resist “, or he'll cripple parts of our Chinese industry. The EU must now use its trade policy tools resolutely and without hesitation.”
He cited AB’'s tariffs on China’'s electric vehicles as an example of vehicles that Brussels’ should be prepared to use more widely, and perhaps even expand.
He also addressed criticism that EU funds indirectly benefit Chinese firms. A recent case involved EU-backed development assistance used to supply the Senegal’e 380 natural gas buses, in which China's lower-cost offering outperformed a European ’ opponent.
He insisted that this should never happen again: “ European development assistance funded by taxpayers should not benefit Chinese companies.”In the future, everyone who wants to sell on “ must play by European rules, ’ added.
However, a tougher trade stance brings with it potential negativities. Beijing could retaliate by restricting the export of critical materials such as rare earth elements, which could pose a risk to European production, especially Germany. Existing trade agreements with partners, including Canada, Mercosur countries and India, may not fully compensate for such disruptions.
Weber argues that Europe’ has significant influence and stresses that access to a single market is vital for China. “, arguing that this dependency should be used to ensure fair competition, said ’, China” needs us.
