New tool could need to apply to 'entire segments of value chains', senior European Commission official says
The European Commission has suggested that it is developing a new trade defence tool against China, in a move that threatens to further escalate tensions between Brussels and Beijing.
Denis Redonnet, the EU executive’s chief trade enforcement officer, said on Thursday that the “very, very intense distortions” created by China’s export-oriented economy mean that “traditional trade instruments will inevitably, at some point, reach their limit”.
Such tools, which include anti-subsidy and anti-dumping measures and ‘safeguards’ aimed at protecting firms from a sudden surge in imports, “tend to be product-specific [and] narrow in scope, whereas some distortions are affecting entire segments of value chains”, Redonnet said.
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