Calls for European leaders to protect domestic industry from “unfairly” subsidized Chinese competition have lately grown louder. But while tariffs might offer temporary relief to a few sectors, they cannot restore Europe’s technological leadership, industrial dynamism, or export competitiveness.
BRUSSELS—China looms large in trade-policy discussions everywhere, but the precise concerns vary. Whereas the United States has long regarded China as a destroyer of American industry and a geopolitical rival whose rise must be contained, Europe has been more concerned about the national-security implications of Chinese dominance in a few strategic sectors, such as rare-earth minerals. Recently, however, European policymakers have begun sounding more like their American counterparts, arguing that surging Chinese imports threaten domestic industry.
BRUSSELS—China looms large in trade-policy discussions everywhere, but the precise concerns vary. Whereas the United States has long regarded China as a destroyer of American industry and a geopolitical rival whose rise must be contained, Europe has been more concerned about the national-security implications of Chinese dominance in a few strategic sectors, such as rare-earth minerals. Recently, however, European policymakers have begun sounding more like their American counterparts, arguing that surging Chinese imports threaten domestic industry.