The European Union may hit more Chinese industries with quotas or tariffs before further negotiations take place, Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said, naming plastics as a sector in which investigations are advanced. When the EU needs to move quickly to protect its industries, it will consider safeguards, which allow emergency measures to curb surges in imports, instead of engaging in longer negotiations. “We clearly will have to put it in order, prioritize, and always look at what would be the most efficient tool to use. In some cases it will for sure be further negotiations with our Chinese counterparts. For others, what would be more appropriate and faster would be safeguard measures,” Sefcovic told reporters at a press conference in Dublin. He explained that the European Commission is currently gathering feedback from EU members on which areas to prioritize for protectionist measures, “when they feel that this particular sector is under a lot of stress”. “But currently, what I think is the closest is the plastics sector, and there we are working with the Directorate of Trade and looking into it,” he said, adding that the EU needed to ensure it had a “very solid case, not only from an economic but also from a legal point of view”.
Sefcovic spoke after a meeting of EU Trade Ministers in Dublin. During a debate on China, attendees outlined the industries they are most concerned about. Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee, who chaired the meeting, named chemicals, machinery and some agri-food sectors as among those raised. French Trade Minister Nicolas Forissier said he was confident that his country’s push with Germany for a tougher EU China policy propelled China to moderate its hybrid car exports, despite the Chinese government warning that pressure tactics won’t work. The EU should “harbor no illusions about extracting concessions through pressure, still less underestimate China’s determination and ability to defend its own interests”, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said.
The European Commission, which manages trade policy for the EU’s 27 members, is set to propose three new instruments by Christmas. DiversifyEU, a European Commission policy proposal to address strategic economic dependencies on single non-EU countries for critical goods and inputs, will compel companies in key sectors to broaden their pool of suppliers in an effort to stop the weaponization of key inputs. A “solidarity mechanism” will compensate companies hit by retaliation from trade rivals, which is seen as a way of ensuring that EU member states do not block trade actions against China.
A “kill switch”, meanwhile, will give the bloc the power to kick Chinese companies out of the EU market with near-immediate effect. Minister Forissier said that “Chinese authorities understand when you’re clear, when you speak frankly, when you’re firm on your positions; this is necessary. We have not done that for a long time. This has to be done not only country by country but also in an EU way,” adding that Europe must “be able to say no” to China, the South China Morning Post reports.
