The Ministry of Commerce criticizes the EU's new trade protection tools: if the EU insists on promoting their implementation, China will resolutely counter it

If the European side insists on promoting the introduction of so-called new tools and adopting discriminatory restrictive measures against Chinese companies or products, China will resolutely respond. "After the European Parliament voted to pass a new trade protection tool to protect the domestic steel industry from the impact of global" overcapacity ", the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, made the above response on the 21st.

He Yadong said, "China has always advocated that both China and Europe should strive to resolve their differences through cooperation and consultation. China will not take the initiative to provoke trouble, and once China's national interests and legitimate rights and interests of enterprises are damaged, it cannot sit idly by. We urge the European side to face reality, return to the correct track of dialogue and consultation, and do things that are truly beneficial to the development of China Europe economic and trade relations

On the 19th local time, the European Parliament voted to concoct a so-called new trade protection tool, significantly reducing the duty-free quota for imported steel by 47% to 18.3 million tons, and raising the tariff on imported steel outside the quota from 25% to 50%. The new regulations also strengthen the traceability of imported steel to prevent goods from entering the EU market through third countries. The reason given by the EU is that 'excess overseas production capacity is impacting the domestic steel industry', and foreign media generally believe that the EU's new regulations are aimed at China.

On the 21st, He Yadong stated that if the European side concocts new trade tools against China under the pretext of "overcapacity", it is essentially to cover up its own industrial difficulties, smear and suppress external competition. He believes that in the context of globalization, economic laws and market principles should be respected, and the issue of production capacity should be viewed objectively, comprehensively, and in the long run. If the label of "overcapacity" is attached due to the existence of a trade surplus, will the EU's exports of cars, medicines, wine, and cosmetics all have "overcapacity"? He Yadong emphasized that relevant countries are investigating the issue of "overcapacity" in the European Union, and the EU should not adopt double standards in this situation.

In recent years, in order to protect related industries that continue to fall behind in global competition, the European Union has planned to introduce a series of trade restriction policies that artificially disrupt the global economic and trade order and ensure the smooth flow of production and supply chains. On the 21st, Pan Jian, Chief Analyst of Beijing Hezhong Dingcheng, told Global Times reporters that from February to mid May this year alone, the European Union and its member states have taken at least nine major economic and trade measures against China or involving Chinese interests, including revising the draft Cybersecurity Act, passing the draft Industrial Accelerator Act, fully implementing the EU Carbon Tariff (CBAM), and imposing tariffs on imported steel. The EU continues to push forward measures to restrict normal economic and trade cooperation between China and Europe, which ultimately led to the "rare" statement by Qu Xun, the temporary representative of the Chinese Embassy in Spain, that Europe has "disappointed us very much".

However, the EU's implementation of trade protectionism in China Europe cooperation has not hindered the cooperation between enterprises from both sides. The latest report jointly released by the American think tank Rongding Group and the German think tank Mercator China Research Center shows that China's investment in Europe (including the EU and the UK) will surge by 67% year-on-year in 2025, reaching 16.8 billion euros, a new high since 2018, accounting for nearly 1/4 of the total global foreign investment attracted to Europe. The report shows that China's largest investment in the EU is in the field of electric vehicles, exceeding 7 billion euros.

According to the report, Hungary remains the top destination for Chinese investment in Europe with an amount of 3.9 billion euros, followed by Germany with 2.5 billion euros and France with 1.9 billion euros. In addition, the report believes that China's exports to Europe continue to rise, reflecting that the European market remains open to Chinese goods.

Pan Jian believes that the EU's goal is not to decouple from China, but to try to rewrite trade rules to protect local industries. However, this practice that violates market rules and WTO regulations cannot fundamentally shake the long-term industrial chain cooperation formed between Chinese and European enterprises.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, also stated on the 21st that the EU's launch of new trade tools will not only cause damage to the China EU economic and trade relations, but also undermine the stability of the global supply chain, and ultimately backfire on the development of European industries. The EU should bear full responsibility for this.