Overview
- IW trade expert Jürgen Matthes urges rapid use of countervailing duties to neutralize Chinese state-backed price advantages.
- He stresses these measures are targeted rather than punitive, applied only where Germany retains meaningful, viable production capacity.
- Established investigative methods could quantify subsidy and currency effects by sector to calibrate duty levels.
- The EU already levies 7.8% to 35.3% duties on Chinese electric vehicles, while China has recently imposed tariffs on certain EU dairy products.
- The push comes during ongoing EU–China negotiations and follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated most of President Trump’s special tariffs.