The European Union¡¯s new, tougher approach to China is being shaped by French concerns that Beijing¡¯s trade practices have started to pose a critical threat to core industries.
The government in Paris has taken a key role in driving the policy shift, according to people familiar with its thinking, calculating that inaction now would put the bloc¡¯s economy on a path to long-term damage.
Officials speaking on condition of anonymity recalled the solar industry debacle a decade ago, when cheap imports from China gutted European production. One of the officials said Europe¡¯s auto industry could potentially be vulnerable in the same way and so the EU faces a binary choice: Either it affirms its power or submits to China.
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