Chancellor Merz: EU ready to protect industry from China — The Local Germany

In Berlin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the European Union is ready to protect its industry from what he called China’s unfair trade practices. The EU seeks fair trade with Beijing, but must also be prepared to defend its own industry, The Local Germany reports.

Concerns over China’s trade policy

Merz criticized China’s excess industrial capacity, product subsidies and export advantages. In his view, the latter are linked to an artificially undervalued Chinese currency, and these issues should be raised in relations with China.

According to the chancellor, China’s trade surplus with the EU exceeds €300 billion annually. At the same time, he acknowledged that part of the Chinese economy’s success is linked to strong new companies and high-quality research, which, he said, deserve respect.

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Trade defence instruments

The chancellor said that Germany, France and the European Union as a whole are ready to defend their own interests. According to him, the EU will use a new set of trade defence instruments for this purpose.

Merz stressed that such steps do not mean the start of a trade war with China. He also reported some progress in recent negotiations between EU representatives and China, including an agreement to reduce the number of cars exported to the European market.

Germany, whose industry includes the automotive, chemical and electronics sectors, previously had a significant trade surplus and large sales volumes to China. However, in recent years Chinese companies have become more competitive, while German exporters have faced rising production costs and US tariffs.