German industry and unions united against hasty decision on China’s MES
/18 February 2016 / In a joint statement on industrial policy released today, German associations and unions, including BDI, BDA and DGB, have made their position clear on China's market economy status (MES).
Ahead of an EU decision the German industry calls for:
- A comprehensive economic impact assessment
- An agreement with the US, Japan and other major trading partners
- A social partner dialogue between the EU Commission, Council, trade unions and industry
- A debate on the further development of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy law in the EU and a legal assessment of the implications of China’s WTO accession protocol
The European industry alliance AEGIS Europe fully supports the demands from German industry. Milan Nitzschke, spokesperson of AEGIS Europe said: "This is a clear signal to the European Commission that it should not work unilaterally towards MES. The granting of MES to China would open the doors to dumping in Europe and put investments and jobs at risk."
AEGIS Europe stood together with over 5,000 workers and industry leaders in Brussels on Monday 15 February to demonstrate against Chinese dumping and China being granted market economy status by the EU. A Manifesto for free and fair trade was handed over to President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.
German industry’s plea to exercise care when deciding on the further handling of Chinese dumping is in the context of the demand for equivalent EU 2020 targets of 20% manufacturing share of GDP and 20% CO2 mitigation.
“EU industrial and climate change targets are not achievable if China is granted MES, which would leave the EU defenceless in the face of Chinese dumping, endangering investments and hundreds of thousands of jobs," concluded Nitzschke.