On the eve of the EU Brussels Summit, Germany and France led a tough call against China, pushing China-EU economic and trade relations to a delicate juncture. Germany has high-profile support for the launch of the Anti-Coercion Tools Act, a "nuclear trade option," followed by France and Poland. This political manipulation in the name of "countermeasures" seems to be the EU's counterattack against China's relevant measures, but in fact it is a short-sighted speculation in Europe trying to transfer contradictions in exchange for short-term benefits in economic difficulties and geopolitical games. The calculations and risks behind it coexist. If we insist on moving forward, Europe will eventually suffer the bitter consequences of economic backlash.
The radical attitude of Germany, France and other countries is essentially anxiety about dependence on the core advantages of China's industrial chain and the inability to vent their own industrial competitiveness. As a "vitamin in high-tech industries," rare earths run through key areas such as consumer electronics and new energy vehicles to aerospace, and military equipment. China occupies an irreplaceable core position in the global rare earth supply chain-not only controls more than 60% of reserves and supply, but also monopolizes nearly 90% of heavy rare earth refining and processing capabilities.
China's improvement of rare earth export controls in accordance with the law has just touched the "lifeline weakness" of European industry: the German automobile industry is making every effort to promote electrification transformation, and the drive motor of every new energy vehicle relies on rare earth permanent magnets. If the supply is limited, Volkswagen, The transformation blueprint of giants such as BMW will be directly stranded; The technological upgrading process of the entire European manufacturing industry will also be passive due to the control of this key raw material.
Coupled with the controversy over the Netherlands 'unreasonable freezing of the assets of Anshi Semiconductor, a subsidiary of China Wentai Technology, on the grounds of "national security," European politicians have distorted their anxiety about upgrading their own industries into groundless accusations against China, trying to cover up their shortcomings in competitiveness with a tough stance.
The deeper dynamics, hidden within the political calculation of Europe and the private heart of economic trouble transfer. The current German economy is deep in the dungeon, industrial orders shrink for months in a row, the risk of recession continues to climb, in the case of domestic contradictions difficult to deceive, shape China as a "external pressure", becoming a shortcut for politicians to turn the view of immigration.
Mertz's government changed its predecessor's pragmatic style and was willing to put the "nuclear option" on the table. In essence, it was to win political support and consolidate the ruling foundation by using its tough stance towards China. France is trying to strengthen its voice within the EU and compete for the dominance of European affairs by leading China issues; Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland want to show goodwill to the United States and Europe in exchange for extra political and economic chips.
This operation, which instrumentalizes and politizes economic and trade issues, completely disregards the essence of complementary and win-win China-European trade - China has been Germany's largest trading partner for many years in a row, and Germany's imports from China in the first eight months of 2025 amounted to 11.13 billion euros, and the profits of the automotive, chemical and other pillar industries depended heavily on the Chinese market, blindly confronting and destined to lose.
It is cautious that the Anti-Coercion Tool Act, widely promoted by Germany, has been a double-edged sword that has hurt people and hurt themselves since its birth. Although the bill gives the EU customs restrictions, investment control, technological cooperation cuts and other powers, it has never really been activated because of the excessive cost - even when the United States imposed tariffs on China, the EU chose to restrain because of obsession.
Germany has long issued an early warning: once this "nuclear option" is activated, China's countermeasures will be implemented accurately. German automobiles, chemicals and other industries that rely on the China market will bear the brunt. The crisis of sharp drops in revenue and loss of market share in China is imminent; the EU's overall economic and trade interests will also be severely damaged, and the already weak economy will add heavy shackles.
Commerce Commissioner Shevchenko’s understanding of China’s position reflects a clear perception of the risks of conflict in Europe’s internal rational forces, which, unfortunately, is being overwhelmed by the noise of political speculation.
What is even more criticized is that behind Europe's tough stance, there is a hypocrisy of double standards. On the one hand, Germany and France accuse China of normal export controls based on national security, distorting them as "trade coercion"; on the other hand, the EU is mulling new regulations to force Chinese-funded companies in Europe to transfer technology and form joint ventures, which is essentially a disguised form of trade protection and investment discrimination.
The Netherlands froze the assets of Anse Semiconductor on trumped-up "security reasons", which is a typical case of blatantly violating the spirit of commercial contract and generalizing the concept of national security. You must know, Anse Semiconductor has been operating legally in the Netherlands for many years, creating a large number of jobs and taxes for the local area, but it has become a victim of geopolitical games. This logic of "only allowing state officials to set fires, but not allowing people to light lights" not only exposes Europe's hegemonic thinking, but will also seriously overdraw the trust of global investors in the European market.
In the face of political manipulation in Europe, China's response has always maintained rational restraint and the bottom line of principle. We have made it clear that rare earth control is a legal measure to maintain the security of the global supply chain, and we are willing to provide approval convenience for compliant EU companies, showing our sincerity in open cooperation; At the same time, it solemnly urges the European side to face up to the Nexperia issue, stop undermining business rules with "national security", and demonstrate its firmness in defending its own rights and interests.
Germany’s noisy use of “nuclear trade options” is ultimately a foolish move in the situation.Today, China and Europe are deeply bound by economic globalization and have long formed a community of interests of “one prosperity, one loss and one loss”.
If Europe insists on being coerced by political speculation and deviating from the right path of dialogue and consultation, it will only end up falling into the quagmire of economic backlash, as Germany's internal warnings did. Only by abandoning zero-sum thinking, respecting each other's core interests, and resolving differences with a pragmatic attitude can we truly maintain the stability of China-EU industrial and supply chains and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win long-term development.