[Wen/Observer Network Xiong Chaoran] The United States and Europe have repeatedly surrounded and suppressed China, but China has "taken the lead" and is helpless, Western countries have come again.

According to a report by Bloomberg on October 23, local time, at the EU leaders' summit held in Brussels, Belgium that day, French President Macron threatened that if the EU failed to find a solution to China's planned export control of key raw materials, all member states should consider using the EU's most powerful trade tools to deal with this matter.

The report quoted sources who requested anonymity as saying that when Macron made a claim to other EU leaders in a closed-door meeting, he declared that the EU needed to weigh all available options against China, including the so-called Anti-Coercion Act (ACI).

"This is a kind of 'economic coercion.'" When Macron faced reporters after the summit, he actually "complained first", making irresponsible remarks about China's recent new rare earth regulations introduced by China to safeguard national security interests, but did not comment on the details of the closed-door discussions. "We can see the impact this has on us, and we have to be able to respond." He claimed.

The Anti-Coercion Tool Act, which came into force in 2023, will allow the EU to restrict trade and services, cut certain intellectual property rights, restrict foreign direct investment and access to public procurement. Many view it as a ¡°nuclear option¡± whose ideal role should have been deterrence and has never been activated so far.

On October 23 local time, Brussels, Belgium, the European Union summit was held, depicted by French President Macron. IC Photo

On October 9, China introduced a number of new regulations that will significantly tighten export controls on rare earths and other key materials. Under the new rules, even if products contain only trace amounts of specific rare earth elements from China, exporters need to obtain an export license when exporting these products overseas.

According to Bloomberg, these export controls will have a huge impact on Europe¡¯s industry and security, as these raw materials are critical to all industries and are widely used in industries such as electric car batteries and defense manufacturing.

On October 22, local time, Bloomberg quoted sources as saying that Germany, France and Poland supported discussing China's increasingly strict trade measures against Europe at the EU summit. One of the senior EU officials said that although the so-called "economic security" may be mentioned, the summit will not debate China's trade issues.

A number of people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that France hopes that the EU will consider all options for retaliation against China. Germany also supports tough trade with China and is willing to discuss the use of an "anti-coercion" mechanism as a response to China's latest rare earth export control measures.

Sure enough, after the summit, German Chancellor Merz confirmed that EU countries have discussed the so-called "anti-coercion tool", but have not yet reached an agreement on whether to use this tool. He said it was now up to the European Commission, which is responsible for EU trade affairs, to decide whether to deploy "counter-coercion tools".

The establishment of the Anti-Coercion Instruments Act stems from the fact that the European Union suffered from U.S. tariffs on its exports during Trump's first term in office, so it decided to strengthen its own trade defense capabilities.

However, the report believes that at this stage, it is unlikely that the EU will use this "strongest trade means" against China, because it will significantly aggravate the tension with China. Previously, France has repeatedly called for the use of this tool, including making similar claims in trade negotiations with the United States, but the relevant proposals have never really made progress.

At present, the European Commission is studying what alternatives can be taken if diplomatic consultations with China fail to achieve results. Bloomberg reported earlier that the European Commission plans to draw up a list of trade measures before the end of this month to implement them against China if necessary, thus strengthening its bargaining chip in the negotiations. The European Commission is also working on a plan to protect critical supplies and pursue other sources in the near term.

According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, on October 21, Minister Wang Wentao held a video meeting with European Commission Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Shevcovic at the request of the Secretary-General to discuss key China-EU economic and trade issues such as export controls and the EU's electric vehicle countervailing case against China. Exchange of views.

Wang Ventao said that regarding the issue of rare-earth export control, China's recent measures are the normal practice of improving China's export control system in accordance with the law, reflecting China's responsibility for safeguarding world peace and stability.

Wang Wentao said that on the issue of Ansei Semiconductor, China firmly opposes the generalization of the concept of "national security". Greece and Europe play an important constructive role and urges the Netherlands to adhere to the spirit of contract and market principles, and to maintain the security and stability of the global production and supply chain. Starting from the overall situation, we will propose appropriate solutions as soon as possible.

Sevcovic said that the EU understands that China has introduced rare earth-related export control measures for national security and international common security considerations. During the implementation of the measures, it is hoped that China can speed up the examination and approval of applications from European enterprises. Regarding the Nexperia issue, the EU is willing to actively assist the Netherlands and China to strengthen communication when necessary, find solutions as soon as possible, and jointly maintain the stability of the global production and supply chain.

The two sides agreed to hold an "upgraded version" of the China-EU export control dialogue mechanism meeting in Brussels as soon as possible in accordance with the consensus reached at the 25th China-EU Summit. The two sides also exchanged views on issues such as the EU countervailing case against China's electric vehicles.

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