Space Travel News
TRADE WARS
Beijing says EU imposed unfair trade barriers on Chinese firms
Beijing says EU imposed unfair trade barriers on Chinese firms
By Matthew Walsh and Peter Catterall
Beijing (AFP) Jan 9, 2025

China said Thursday that an investigation had found the European Union imposed unfair "trade and investment barriers" on Beijing, marking the latest salvo in long-running commercial tensions between the two economic powers.

Officials announced the probe in July after Brussels began looking into whether Chinese government subsidies were undermining European competition.

Beijing has consistently denied its industrial policies are unfair and has threatened to take action against the EU to protect Chinese companies' legal rights and interests.

The commerce ministry said Thursday that the implementation of the EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) discriminated against Chinese firms and "constitutes trade and investment barriers".

However, it did not mention whether Beijing planned to take action in response.

The two are major trade partners but are locked in a wide-ranging standoff, notably over Beijing's support for its renewables and electric-vehicle sectors.

EU actions against Chinese firms have come as the 27-nation bloc seeks to expand renewable energy use to meet its target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

But Brussels also wants to pivot away from what it views as an overreliance on Chinese technology at a time when many Western governments increasingly consider Beijing a potential national security threat.

When announcing the probe, the ministry said its national chamber of commerce for importing and exporting machinery and electronics had filed a complaint over the FSR measures.

The 20-page document detailing the ministry's conclusions said their "selective enforcement" resulted in "Chinese products being treated more unfavourably during the process of export to the EU than products from third countries".

It added that the FSR had "vague" criteria for investigating foreign subsidies, placed a "severe burden" on the targeted companies and had opaque procedures that created "huge uncertainty".

EU measures such as surprise inspections "clearly exceeded the necessary limits", while investigators were "subjective and arbitrary" on issues like market distortion, according to the ministry.

Companies deemed not to have complied with probes also faced "severe penalties", which placed "huge pressure" on Chinese firms, it said.

The European Commission on Thursday defended the FSR, saying it was "fully compliant with all applicable EU and World Trade Organization rules".

"All companies, regardless of their seat or nationality, are subject to the rules," a commission spokesperson said in a statement.

"This is also the case when applying State aid or antitrust rules."

- Projects curtailed -

The Chinese commerce ministry said FSR investigations had forced Chinese companies to abandon or curtail projects, causing losses of more than 15 billion yuan ($2.05 billion).

The measures had "damaged the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises and products in the EU market", it said, adding that they also hindered the development of European national economies and undermined trade cooperation between Beijing and Brussels.

The EU's first probe under the FSR in February targeted a subsidiary of Chinese rail giant CRRC, but closed after the company withdrew from a tender in Bulgaria to supply electric trains.

A second probe targets Chinese-owned solar panel manufacturers seeking to build and operate a photovoltaic park in Romania, partly financed by European funds.

In October, Brussels imposed extra tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars after an anti-subsidy investigation under a different set of rules concluded Beijing's state support was unfairly undercutting European automakers.

Beijing in response announced provisional tariffs on brandy imported from the EU, and later imposed "temporary anti-dumping measures" on the liquor.

Last month, China said it would extend the brandy investigation, citing the case's "complexity".

Separately, a report by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China warned that firms were being forced to drastically localise their operations to suit China's regulations, driving up costs and reducing efficiency.

Heightened trade tensions and Beijing's "self-reliance policies" were causing many multinationals "to separate certain China-based functions, or even entire operations, from those in the rest of the world", it said.

It added that governance rules increasingly dominated by national security concerns had heightened uncertainties for local entities in engaging with European clients.

Some customers are therefore choosing to "err on the side of caution and not take a risk by buying from a foreign service provider", Chamber head Jens Eskelund said at a media event on Thursday.

Related Links
Global Trade News

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
TRADE WARS
Trade war worries loom over Las Vegas tech show
Las Vegas (AFP) Jan 9, 2025
Chinese companies have turned out in force again at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, with their prospects overshadowed by the threat of steeper tariffs from incoming US president Donald Trump. XPeng's "flying car" and TCL's AI-enhanced television were just a few of the products offered by Chinese companies that have won attention at CES, the annual Las Vegas tech confab. The potential for Trump's trade policies to roil the global tech industry has loomed large over the event. Trump ca ... read more

TRADE WARS
TRADE WARS
Evidence exists for hidden water reservoirs and rare magmas on ancient Mars

University of Houston scientists solving meteorological mysteries on Mars

Frosty landscape captured at Mars' South Pole

Perseverance blasts past the top of Jezero Crater rim

TRADE WARS
Lunar Trailblazer will make macro-measurements of the lunar surface in 2025

China allocates lunar samples for new research projects

Characterizing visual challenges for astronauts at the Lunar South Pole

ispace-EUROPE and ISA partner to deliver advanced reflector technology to the moon

TRADE WARS
Citizen scientists help decipher Jupiter's cloud composition

Texas A and M researchers illuminate the mysteries of icy ocean worlds

Jovian vortex hunter catalog reveals stunning insights into Jupiter's atmosphere

Juno identifies localized magma chambers driving Io's volcanic activity

TRADE WARS
An autonomous strategy for life detection on icy worlds using Exo-AUV

Living in the deep, dark, slow lane: Insights from the first global appraisal of microbiomes in Earth's subsurface environments

Young planet's atmosphere challenges traditional formation models

New study uncovers variety in Arctic Ocean hydrothermal vent systems

TRADE WARS
SpaceX sends up first Starlink mission of 2025

UAH Electric Propulsion Club seeks patent for experimental ion thruster

Bezos's Blue Origin poised for first orbital launch this week

UVA professor aims to boost next-generation space rockets

TRADE WARS
China's human spaceflight program achieves key milestones in 2024

China's space journey continues apace

Shenzhou XIX crew completes successful spacewalk outside Tiangong station

China boosts Lunar and Mars mission capabilities with advanced Long March rockets

TRADE WARS
UCF scientists examine unique asteroid-comet hybrid

Lab experiments explore origins of gullies on Asteroid Vesta

Webb Telescope detects new population of small Main Belt Asteroids

How to find a comet before it hits Earth

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.