According to reporting from Berlin government circles published in the “Handelsblatt”, the German federal government is signaling its support for a tougher stance toward China. From the German perspective, the ongoing European discussion regarding “robust measures” is moving in the right direction, though some detailed discussions still need to take place.
The European Union is currently preparing sector-wide protective tariffs. Industrial Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné told the newspaper that China’s overcapacity “threatens Europe’s core economic interests”.
Within Brussels, a document known as a Non-Paper is circulating, in which Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Lithuania support the Commission and advocate for protective tariffs. These nations warn that the increase in “systemic and structural industrial overcapacity” poses direct consequences for the entire continent; between 2019 and 2025, industry lost one million jobs.
The German government finds it positive that China is not explicitly named in this Non-Paper, as this reduces the likelihood that Beijing will view the trade policy plans as a provocation and respond with retaliatory tariffs. However, the federal government is not ready to formally endorse the document at this time.
