An EU Trade War with China?
In an expedited procedure, the European Commission recently raised tariffs on ceramic and porcelain products from China. Additional tariff measures are also being considered to protect the European internal market from the Chinese export engine. Is the EU economy now facing a trade war with Beijing, alongside the potential import halt on rare earths?
Tensions in international trade policy are escalating on multiple fronts. After the U.S. Supreme Court initially declared the tariff regime implemented by President Donald Trump since April of last year unlawful, it appears the administration has explored new ways to stabilize its tariff policy going forward.
The signs on the international trade front continue to point toward turmoil. Not least, it is the ramped-up Chinese export machine that is increasingly in the crosshairs of U.S. protectionism and European defensive measures.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/03/an_eu_trade_war_with_china.html
Europe shouldn’t fear trade war with China, EU agency says
The European Union shouldn’t shy away from a trade war with China if it wants to avoid deindustrialisation, according to a report published Monday by the bloc’s foreign-policy think tank, the European Union Institute for Security Studies.
The report argues that confrontation with Beijing is likely unavoidable and urges Brussels to make it easier to deploy its most powerful trade-defence weapon, the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI).
The analysis lands after year in which China continued to weaponise Europe’s dependence on rare earths and chips through export controls, while its trade surplus with the bloc ballooned to €359.3 billion.
“The EU should adopt an ‘escalate to de-escalate’ approach similar to those used by the US and China.
China vs. the E.U.: The Trade War Nobody Is Talking About (Yet)
Europe Becomes China’s New Export Dumping Ground
So, where does Europe fit into all this?
Well, as I mentioned above, China isn’t going to sit back and watch its economy slow.
So, the goods it’s losing in the U.S. are now heading to Europe – flooding E.U. markets and forcing Brussels to absorb the imbalance (basically creating the same dynamic that irritated the U.S.).
To put this into context, Chinese exports to the E.U. rose more than 14% in September – the largest jump in over three years – while shipments to the ten-nation Southeast Asian trading bloc (aka ASEAN) climbed nearly 16%2.
In short, China’s exports haven’t slowed down (they’ve actually risen). It’s just that they’ve been rerouted to Europe and other nations.
https://dunham.com/FA/Blog/Posts/china-eu-trade-war-economic-impact
Funny, tariffs are only bad when Trump does it, hypocrites!
h/t KeepIt