Media: Several EU countries want to discuss measures to respond to China's trade policies at the summit on October 23
Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that a series of EU countries hope to discuss measures to respond to China's trade policies at the Brussels summit on October 23.
On Monday, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas accused China of using economic means as a weapon against global trade and the EU after the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
According to Bloomberg: "Germany and France support the initiative to discuss measures to respond to China's increasingly stringent restrictive trade measures at the EU leaders' summit held in Brussels on Thursday. France and Poland proposed adding clauses about China's harmful economic behavior in the summit conclusions. Given Beijing's restrictions on access to important materials, Germany is at least prepared to discuss using the EU's strongest trade response measure - the so-called 'anti-coercion tool'. This issue may be raised when discussing competitiveness at the summit."
A German official who did not want to be named told Bloomberg that due to concerns about negative economic consequences, Berlin was unable to decide to launch the 'anti-coercion tool'. Another European official told Bloomberg that Paris hopes the EU considers all response options, but is currently studying other ideas.
On October 9, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it would implement export controls on superhard materials, some rare earth equipment and raw materials, some medium and heavy rare earths, lithium batteries, and artificial graphite anode materials from November 8.
On October 10, US President Donald Trump announced that the US would impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods on November 1 or earlier, higher than the current tariff level in China, citing China's 'aggressive stance' in the trade field.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bensons said on Monday that Washington might delay the new tariffs to allow both sides' leaders to meet and discuss trade issues.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846657969055754/
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