Morning Briefing: Warum Berlin Chinas Billigimporten (bisher) nichts entgegensetzt
Das Handelsdefizit zwischen China und Europa ist so hoch wie nie. Vor allem die deutsche Industrie leidet darunter. Doch eine Antwort der Regierung fehlt – aus einem peinlichen Grund.
Good morning readers, just like when preparing for a vacation, an unpleasant issue sometimes pops up right before departure, tempting us to ignore it. Perhaps someone else will deal with it, and then we return home without resolving the problem. This seems to be the case with Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and China policy, upon his return from a summer vacation to the Chancellery.
The People's Republic swamps Europe with cheap industrial exports, importing 22 billion euros worth of cars and car parts from China alone in 2025, while domestic exports in the segment fell by 34 percent. The total EU trade deficit with China reached approximately 359 billion euros. Economists argue that this is not due to the excellence of Chinese products, but rather the audacity with which Beijing pushes them onto world markets through subsidies and possibly currency manipulation.
The SPD shares similar views, and Chancellor Merz lastly expressed a clear position. However, the government is not united on this matter.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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