EU pulls its gun on China: The EU is accelerating its crackdown on what it sees as Beijing’s unfair support for companies that undermine European rivals
EU pulls its gun on China: The EU is accelerating its crackdown on what it sees as Beijing’s unfair support for companies that undermine European rivals
The EU is accelerating its crackdown on what it sees as Beijing’s unfair support for companies that undermine European rivals.
Europe's phoney war with China is at an end. After years of building up an improved arsenal for a trade war, Europe is now showing it is willing to get tough on Beijing.
On Tuesday, EU investigators swooped on the Dutch and Polish offices of Nuctech, a maker of security scanners, in a case that hinges on one of Europe's longest running grievances with China — lavish state subsidies that help Chinese firms undercut European rivals.
Nuctech was once run by Hu Haifeng, son of President Xi Jinping's predecessor, Hu Jintao, and China's reaction was predictably seething. The raid "highlights the further deterioration of the EU's business environment and sends an extremely negative signal to all foreign companies," China's mission to the EU fumed.
The timing of such an inflammatory raid seems significant, ahead of a trip to Europe by Xi next month — his first in five years, taking him to France, Serbia and Hungary — marking a definitive shift in the way that Europe is prepared to tackle its trade problems with China.
Who the fuck is it that is making these stupid taglines? Pulls it's gun? Just post a normal title, if you have to spruce this shit up with nonsense, it means your writing sucks or the subject is not worth reporting in the first place
Well you know how the Europeans are famous for their strong gun culture.
This is mind-bending politics to me. My brain can't handle the intricacies. I barely understand what this is about.
Basically, China pumps incredible amounts of money in to companies, so they can undercut prices from EU companies crazy - forcing the EU companies to give up. EU wants to level the playing field.
Edit: With taxes for Chinese companies that want to sell something in the EU, like China already does as well on the Chinese market.
There also another thing at play here: China has laws, so that foreign companies need at least 50% Chinese "shares" (it's not just shares), basically neutering these companies and also giving away the technology to Chinese third parties. Wich further erodes the playing field, because now Chinese companies not only can produce stuff dirt cheap, they can also do it with "high-tech" stuff, without having to pay and/or do the development.
Before the Industrial Revolution, Europe had an issue trading with China as Europe had issues finding anything to trade. Europe's natural resources weren't valuable enough and China was able to produce many manufactured goods.
The colonization of the Americas was done in part to either get new natural resources not located in China or precious metals like silver and gold. The trade deficit got so bad that the UK and other European countries started selling opium as a way to balance trade.
China's reindustrialization is bringing itself back to that old status quo and the EU is trying to fight this.
Fact that it's Hu Jintao's kid makes me think this is theatrics for both sides
Hu Jintao's from a different faction of the CCP than Xi Jinping, this is effectively Europe hitting one of his potential rivals.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
On Tuesday, EU investigators swooped on the Dutch and Polish offices of Nuctech, a maker of security scanners, in a case that hinges on one of Europe's longest running grievances with China — lavish state subsidies that help Chinese firms undercut European rivals.
For years, Brussels has repeatedly taken an emollient tone with Beijing, seeking ultimately futile dialogue on state subsidies and overcapacity in sectors such as steel, aluminum and green tech, rather than choosing direct confrontation and a tit-for-tat trade war.
Europe's early attempts to rival Belt and Road were seen as damp squibs, but an internal Commission document obtained by POLITICO says the bloc must now focus more seriously on building footholds in key strategic mining and energy interests in Africa and Central Asia.
Two people familiar with the impending decision said Brussels was close to designating Shein as a "very large online platform" in the coming days, exposing it to extra scrutiny under the bloc’s content moderation law.
In a classic sign of China's asymmetric approach, shortly after von der Leyen launched her high-profile investigation into made-in-China electric vehicles, Beijing hit Europe’s liquor exports, in a move that seemed particularly tailored to France's cognac sector.
But despite those threats of retaliation, von der Leyen has little room to keep her powder dry, particularly as she fights to win a second term as Commission president — a move that would require support from France, the main advocate of protecting European industry from China.
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