EU ready for a trade war with China over medical devices

Brussels – Unwarranted restrictions on ‘made in EU’ in the health and healthcare sector, China continues to ban medical equipment and devices from its market, and the European Commission now threatens strong responses. “We are ready to take decisive action to defend a level playing field and support fair competition,” assures Maros Sefcovic, Commissioner for Trade. Words that sound like a warning to Beijing: the EU is ready for a new chapter in the tariff war that started with the People’s Republic and ended up at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“Continued discrimination” by the People’s Republic against EU medical devices in the public procurement market persists, Brussels denounces. The latest report presents “clear evidence of China limiting the access of EU medical devices producers to its government contracts in an unfair and discriminatory way,” the EU Commission said. These are unacceptable practices that must come to an end.

Europe is ready for anything, not just tariffs. The EU’s response could include restrictions and the exclusion of Chinese bidders for government contracts in the EU, i.e., closing the single market for China. If this were to take place, it would be the choice of the Chinese, Sefcovic stressed: “The European Commission strongly wishes to maintain open, fair and mutually beneficial trade relations with China, including on public procurement. However, openness needs to be reciprocal.”

The goal remains an agreed solution. “we continue to prioritize dialogue as a first step to finding solutions,” the Trade Commissioner of the second von der Leyen term added. In the meantime, preparations are underway for a new round of trade war.

English version by the Translation Service of Withub