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EU and China risk stumbling into a trade war
Trade hawks in Brussels proposing ‘Made in Europe’ and other measures to stem rising tide of Chinese exports.
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The EU and China are sleepwalking into a trade war neither side wants, yet neither knows how to prevent, says the writer.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Some trade wars are unleashed with great public fanfare, as deliberate instruments of national policy; that’s US President Donald Trump’s speciality. But in other cases, countries stumble into a trade war more by accident than design. This now looks to be the fate of the European Union and China.
A crucial meeting of the European Commission, the EU’s executive, scheduled for May 29 will examine plans to adopt a new “Made in Europe Act” aimed primarily at curbing Chinese imports to the EU.
