SPD-led ministries are calling for tougher action against China

The SPD-led federal ministries are urging the government to take tougher action against China. This emerges from a paper preparing the upcoming coalition committee, which was first reported by “Zeit”.

“China’s economic and trade policy is based on a network of government subsidies, administratively controlled overcapacity and economic coercion,” it says. Chinese companies would therefore have competitive advantages that would not be possible using purely market-based means. Germany must counter these distortions more “robustly”.

Investigation into plug-in hybrids

The SPD ministries argue in their paper that China is systematically violating the existing rules of world trade. That is why Germany should, for example, lobby the EU for an anti-subsidy investigation against Chinese car companies that produce plug-in hybrids. It is examined whether foreign manufacturers have unlawful competitive advantages through state support. If necessary, there may then be countervailing duties.

In addition, stricter measures should be taken against product piracy and greater attention should be paid to the violation of labor and environmental standards, through which China achieves low export prices.

In the coalition committee on Wednesday, the leaders of the Union and SPD want to discuss how to deal with China. Recently, in view of the growing threat from cheap imports from China, the company had already taken a somewhat more restrictive course. According to “Zeit”, the Union-led Economics Ministry and parts of the Chancellery want to use trade protection measures very cautiously.