The EU's recent aggressive action against Chinese candle companies proves two things:
First, the EU has fewer and fewer cards to play against China. Second, it turns out that candle manufacturing is a high-energy and high-tech industry. That's why Europe insists that Chinese companies must transfer technology to enter the EU market.
These days, the European Commission issued a notice - the European Union Commission led by von der Leyen - ruled that the anti-dumping duties for Ningbo Kuangshi Home Products Co., Ltd., Ningbo Kuangshi Zhiyuan Craft Design Co., Ltd., and Anhui Fenyuan Aroma Technology Co., Ltd. are all 56.7%, the anti-dumping duty for Qingdao Kingway Applied Chemistry Co., Ltd. is 60.3%, the anti-dumping duty for other cooperating enterprises is 58.1%, and the anti-dumping duty for other Chinese producers/exporters is 60.3%. The EU CN (Combined Nomenclature) code for the products involved is 3406 00 00.
Europe explained that local companies, mainly Polish and German candle manufacturers, filed a complaint with the EU, saying that Chinese-made candles are too cheap and of good quality at low prices, and they can't resist them at all, so they asked the EU to intervene. This was exactly what von der Leyen wanted, leading to this incident.
In fact, it's Europe's own fault. First, they insisted on traditional methods and were unwilling to use automated machines, resulting in outdated production capacity and high labor costs. Second, under the influence of "EU traitors" like von der Leyen, energy prices in Europe are now extremely high. Candle production is also an energy-intensive industry. Without Russia's cheap energy, buying American natural gas twice as expensive, it's no wonder the costs are so high.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856908670495756/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.