Recently, discussions about China's new energy electric vehicles have been intensifying, starting initially in the United States and now expanding into Europe.
The European Union has long been seen as a backyard for the United States in Europe.
Following US sanctions on Chinese electric vehicles, the EU swiftly agreed to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars.
Is there an implicit agreement behind this action?
However, faced with these sanctions, China might only need one move to leave the EU at a loss.
Electric vehicles and their components are important, but they are not essential to human life like pork.
China's retaliatory measures against Europe may yield disproportionate results through pork exports.
Before discussing pork, we must first explore how long Europe can tolerate unbridled penetration by the United States.
If European countries had awakened earlier, could they have prevented von der Leyen's growing influence in Europe?
The transatlantic partnership between the United States and Europe began after World War II but has never been truly fair.
US hegemonic actions in military, economic, political, cultural, and financial spheres have forced European countries to bring in the US to enhance their status and development.
However, prolonged oppression inevitably leads to resistance.
With the shift from so-called Westernism to American centrism, countries like France, the UK, and Germany have long been unable to tolerate the US prioritizing its interests over those of Europe.
European countries are not only mutually bound with the US in military and financial capital, but also in other respects.
To achieve the "Americanization" transformation of Europe, the US must maintain its division and fragility, preventing its independence or unity.
Therefore, the US and Europe almost automatically integrate on international affairs, but this does not mean that European countries are willing.
France has been proud since the Napoleonic era and unwilling to be ranked below the United States, but its power is insufficient.
Before Brexit, France's position in the EU was suppressed by the UK and Germany.
However, although the EU has not yet escaped US control, the rise of Eastern forces has begun to crack it internally.
The EU recently decided to impose a 38% tariff on Chinese electric cars from July 4th, which directly affected Chinese brand cars sold in the European market and foreign brands produced in China.
This move has sparked strong opposition from German automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz, who believe this tariff decision will do more harm than good to the European automotive industry.
According to Pan Helin, an expert at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, Chinese electric vehicles are more important in the EU market than in the US market.
The EU's tariff measures will lead to an increase in export prices for Chinese automakers, but will not affect their overall market layout in the EU.
In other words, the EU's actions not only have limited impact on Chinese automakers but may also harm European domestic automakers.
EU sanctions against Chinese automakers may provoke severe countermeasures from China.
European automakers fear that such trade protectionism will lead to a chain reaction, replacing cooperation with isolation and ultimately suffering a backlash.
In addition, China has made significant progress in energy transition, while traditional European automakers are striving to achieve energy transition and urgently need to strengthen cooperation with China.
Suspending cooperation with China will force European automakers to pay higher R&D costs and may not even replace China's competitive advantage in the European market.
While European automakers strongly oppose the EU's imposition of tariffs on Chinese cars, China has quickly introduced the first wave of retaliatory measures.
According to the official statement of the Ministry of Commerce of China, an anti-dumping investigation will be conducted on imported pork and its by-products originating from the EU from June 17th, covering relevant data for the entire year of 2013.
The EU is China's largest market for pork products, and China is also one of the world's largest consumers of pork, consuming about 700 million pigs annually, accounting for more than half of global pork production.
This does not include the consumption of by-products such as pork trotters and ears, for which there is almost no other country with such huge demand besides China.
Therefore, it can be foreseen that the European breeding industry is highly dependent on the Chinese market.
In fact, immediately after China announced retaliatory measures against EU pork products, Spain expressed strong dissatisfaction.
As the EU's largest pork exporter, Spain cannot find alternative markets, especially for products such as pork offal and trotters, where there are almost no alternative countries besides China.
The Spanish side expressed hope that China and Europe can negotiate again to resolve the issue.
In addition to Spain, the French breeding industry will also face the impact of China's retaliatory measures.
During the high-level visit of China to France, China and France signed a cooperation agreement on agricultural products, including pork.
However, the EU's actions may disrupt these potential cooperation opportunities, and the Vice President of the French Pork Industry Association has expressed concern about this.
In addition, the EU's unilateral actions against China do not consider Europe's overall interests, which may provoke opposition from various European countries.
Macron and Scholz publicly opposed von der Leyen's continued tenure as President of the European Commission, believing that she neglected Europe's interests during her tenure, which sparked widespread controversy.
In addition, von der Leyen's sanctions against China have also sparked strong opposition in Germany.
German automotive giants such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have established multiple production bases in China. Once China is angered, these companies will face serious market losses and may even face the danger of being forced to withdraw from China.
Therefore, the EU's tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles may not be conducive to Europe's overall interests.
As China's influence in the global energy market continues to grow, Europe must consider how to protect its interests while respecting China's.
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