Chinese companies operating in the EU criticised former President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi’s suggestion that tariffs were needed to protect European industry from foreign competition, according to Euractiv.
The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) also objected to the repeated condemnation of Chinese “overcapacity” and the portrayal of Beijing as a “high-risk supplier.”
The reference to China’s industrial overcapacity in green technologies overlooks the global demand for these products and the vital role China plays in driving global decarbonisation efforts. We are disappointed that this was viewed as a threat; we believe that China’s production capacity should be seen as an opportunity to meet the increasing global demand for clean energy technologies at competitive prices.
The opinion was presented in the Draghi’s report on EU competitiveness, published on Monday, 9 September. A representative of the Chinese Chamber stated:
Regarding the report’s proposal to apply tariffs or other trade measures, the CCCEU cautions against actions that could escalate trade tensions and disrupt the global green technology supply chain.
The CCCEU’s remarks came after Draghi wrote that tariffs could be “warranted” in cases of “unfair competition from abroad.” However, Draghi warned that such trade measures “should not be applied systematically” and imposing tariffs on lagging European industries “would only impose excessive deadweight costs on the economy.”
Draghi’s report came amid growing trade friction between Brussels and Beijing. Last month, China announced an anti-dumping investigation into some imports from the EU, a day after the bloc confirmed preliminary duties of up to 36.3 per cent on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs).
Draghi’s critics were also found among European politicians. Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont condemned the former ECB chief’s proposal on X:
If we want to compete with China, we must do so on an economic model that mainly favors the most disadvantaged social classes and not the great fortunes; that protects human rights above commercial interests; that gives minorities the treatment, respect and recognition that none of those regimes is able to give.
