The EU is plotting the implementation of a blanket tariff regime against a wide range of Chinese goods, reports from inside Brussels now claim.
European Commissioners are said to be preparing a mechanism to allow the mass application of import restrictions on a wide range of goods from the East Asian country, with Eurocrats claiming the restrictions are needed to “rebalance” trade.
Allegedly masterminded by the bloc’s trade tsar Maroš Šefčovič, the new rules would see tariffs automatically applied when Chinese goods represent 40 per cent or more of the EU’s total imports for said items.
Unlike previous tariff regimes built by Brussels, EU member states would not be consulted before any restrictions under this metric are implemented. Instead, a majority of countries inside the bloc would have to actively vote against tariffing a given object in order to prevent the Commission from restricting its import.
The restrictions represent the latest EU move against China amid growing tensions between Brussels and Beijing.
EU leaders have already implemented a host of restrictions on the import of Chinese goods over accusations that the country is “dumping” subsidised exports into the common European market.
Such restrictions included additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and solar panels, as well as blanket surcharges on any objects bought by consumers from outside the European Economic Area.
Beijing has rejected all claims of dumping, instead citing Europe’s struggling domestic manufacturing sector as the main reason that consumers on the continent are looking to import more Chinese goods.
Chinese officials instead claim that the tariffs are merely an attempt at protectionism by Brussels aimed at propping up failing industries on the continent.
“Under the pretext of cybersecurity and industrial development, the EU is in fact pursuing protectionism by frequently setting discriminatory provisions, and continuously tightening market access conditions,” a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce said during a recent press conference on the bloc’s activities.
“China urges the EU to abide by WTO rules, keep its market open, revise the discriminatory provisions in the Act, and create a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises investing and operating in Europe.”