[Salon] EU, China discontent with U.S. inflation act

[Chas Freeman <cwfresidence@gmail.com>]

https://mailchi.mp/cusef/china-us-express-january-3-5970269?e=c05cda21b0

EU, China discontent with U.S. inflation act

• EU trade ministers convened on Friday to discuss the “discriminatory provisions” in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) imposed in August. Attendees of the Foreign Affairs (Trade) Council meeting in Brussels voiced their discontent with the U.S. legislation.

  • "We want and expect European companies and exports to be treated in the same way in the U.S. as American companies and exports are treated in Europe." — Valdis Dombrovkis, European Commissioner for Trade

  • "There are $367 billion of U.S. subsidies, of which $200 billion are actually not WTO (World Trade Organisation) compliant." — Olivier Becht, French Minister for Foreign Trade and Attractiveness

  • "The Inflation Reduction Act as it stands now is quite worrisome, very worrisome, to be honest," — Liesje Schreinemacher, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

  • “We are very concerned about the likely significant impact of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act on the EU’s manufacturing base.” — Jozef Síkela, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic

  • "Nobody wants to get into a tit-for-tat or a subsidy race. But what the U.S. has done really isn't consistent with the principles of free trade and fair competition." — Irish Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar

• At a meeting of the WTO Council for Trade in Goods in Geneva on Thursday and Friday, the Chinese mission condemned (Zh) the “discriminatory and distorted” industrial subsidies in IRA and the U.S. policies that “disrupted global semiconductor industrial and supply chains.” The representatives said that the law and the policies could have violated WTO rules and have caused “serious distortions to global trade and investment in relevant sectors.”