New trade war I guess. Let's close down the rare earth mineral exports again
EU said to be preparing to hit China with 20 new anti-dumping probes
They will be ‘opened consecutively in the coming weeks’, according to former European trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom
The is planning to sharply ramp up its trade defences against China in the coming weeks, as it looks to protect its industries from cut-price competition and industrial spillovers in the world’s second-largest economy, a former top official has said.
Speaking at an event on Thursday, former trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said there were “preparations for another 20 anti-dumping investigations in a variety of fields going on”.
“So I think they will be opened consecutively in the coming weeks,” said the former Swedish official, at an event hosted by the Institute for International and Economic Affairs in Dublin
While the European Commission did not confirm the comments, a series of top officials have spoken in recent days about their mounting grievances with Beijing’s trade policies. Brussels is awash with frustration over China’s unwillingness to address EU concerns.
These have been amplified by the perceived threat of trade diversion emanating from Trump’s tariffs, which has led to fears that under-pressure Chinese exporters will reroute their goods to Europe at a discount, thereby endangering local producers.
Officials have complained about China’s industrial overcapacity and “weaponisation” of its global market dominance in rare earth minerals and magnets, through the roll-out of new rules in April requiring licences to export the commodities that has led to dozens of industrial closures in Europe.
“This is a clear example of the … weaponisation of dependencies,” said the EU’s top trade mandarin Sabine Weyand, who said the commission had lodged a complaint last week against China’s provisional tariffs on EU pork imports, which she said showed “significant shortcomings” under global trading rules.