Source: Xinhuanet
Brussels, 26 Nov (Xinhua) -- The European Union says no to the unilateral economic policy of the United States
Xinhua News Agency reporter
The ministers responsible for trade affairs of EU member states met in Brussels on the 25th to discuss trade relations between Europe and the United States. Participants expressed deep concern about the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act introduced by the United States, arguing that many of the green subsidies provided for in the bill discriminate against the EU's automotive, renewable, battery and energy-intensive industries and could have a significant impact on the competitiveness of EU industry and investment decisions. Dombrovskis, executive vice president of the European Commission, said: "What we want is fairness. ”
Analysts believe that the US government has repeatedly harmed European allies in order to maintain its hegemony, and adopted unilateral policies to revive its own economy, and its bullying behavior has caused serious dissatisfaction and concern in European countries, and the trade dispute between Europe and the United States may further intensify.
Europe faces serious challenges
In August this year, US President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act. Under the bill, the U.S. federal government would invest about $370 billion in climate and clean energy; Invest about $64 billion in healthcare.
The United States claims that the bill aims to ease inflation and reduce the deficit, but analysts point out that the United States has introduced a large number of incentives, including high subsidies, to promote the production of electric vehicles and other green technologies in the United States, and its essence is to gain an advantage for American companies at the expense of European industry.
Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Joseph Sikra, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said on the 25th: "We are very worried about the possible significant impact of the US Inflation Reduction Act on the EU manufacturing base. ”
"Many of the green subsidies under the bill discriminate against automotive, renewables, batteries and energy-intensive industries in the EU," Dombrovskis said. These are serious concerns of the EU. ”
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton warned a few days ago that Biden's new subsidy package poses a "life-and-death challenge" to the European economy.
Hegemonic actions entrap allies
Analysts point out that the Inflation Reduction Act is just one of many unilateral hegemonic acts by the United States to entrap its European allies. After the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, the United States fanned the flames and made war money, and European countries suffered greatly.
Europe, together with the United States, has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, but the backlash effect of sanctions has plunged many European countries into an energy crisis. The United States took the opportunity to sell energy to European countries at high prices. French President Emmanuel Macron complained after the EU summit in mid-October that the price of gas sold by the United States to Europe was three to four times higher than the price of the domestic market.
In response to high inflation, the Fed has raised interest rates aggressively this year, making the European economy even worse. Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater, the world's largest hedge fund, said: "The United States is tightening more aggressively, while Europe is not tightening by the same amount, causing currency depreciation, and European inflation is more severe than in the United States." ”
Frederick Eriksson, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, noted that the EU's concerns about the Inflation Reduction Act and its direct or indirect discriminatory provisions are clearly legitimate. Many of the Act's "America First" policies would harm competition between businesses and EU businesses. The website article of the Royal Spanish Elcano Institute pointed out that the EU must be vigilant that the "America First" pursued by former US President Trump will continue on economic and trade issues.
Europe will respond strongly
A number of EU officials said on the 25th that this US-EU trade dispute must be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise the EU will take countermeasures.
France and Germany have said that the two countries are "on the same front." French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry and Digital Sovereignty Bruno Le Maire and German Minister of Economy and Climate Protection Robert Habeck issued a joint statement on the 22nd, expressing their hope to closely coordinate Europe to deal with challenges such as the Inflation Reduction Act of the United States. Le Maire said that if the EU and the United States cannot reach a "compromise", France and Germany will do everything in their power to defend the European economy. According to the website of the French newspaper Les Echos, Paris and Berlin will not rule out increasing aid to industry in Europe.
According to an article on the website of the US "Politico", the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Committee will hold a new round of meetings on December 5. The EU's goal is to resolve disputes arising from the Act through the framework of the US-EU Working Group on the Inflation Reduction Act before the meeting. However, given factors such as the growing hostility of EU member states to US subsidy policies, this is expected to be difficult to achieve. (Participating reporters: Kang Yi, Zhu Sheng, Liu Fang, Xu Yuan, Deng Xianlai)