Germany's Scholz calls for fair competition and warns against dumping during China visit
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for fair competition in trade relations with China while warning about dumping and overproduction while speaking to students in Shanghai on Monday
BEIJING — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for fair competition in trade relations with China while warning about dumping and overproduction as he spoke to students in Shanghai on Monday.
Scholz is visiting China against the background of looming EU tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and other trade-related tensions. The two countries are also split over how to handle Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The one thing that must always be clear is that competition must be fair,” Scholz told students at Tongji University in Shanghai, according to German news agency dpa.
“Of course we would like our companies to have no restrictions, but conversely we behave exactly how we are demanding here,” he said, adding there must be no dumping or overproduction.
The European Union is mulling tariffs to protect its producers against cheaper Chinese electrical vehicle imports, which some fear will flood the European market.
The head of Germany’s auto industry association, the VDA, expressed opposition to such tariffs ahead of Scholz’s visit. Hildegard Müller told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper in comments published Saturday the tariffs would not help the European and German auto industries and instead “could quickly have a negative effect in a trade conflict.”
“Current business with China secures a large number of jobs here in Germany,” Müller said.
Scholz made comparisons to reservations years ago when Japanese and Korean automakers entered the German market.
“There was great agitation in the newspapers: ‘Now the Japanese cars will come and
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