China’s ‘divide-and-conquer’ tariff ploy

Spain’s prime minister called on the European Union to reconsider tariffs against Chinese-made electric vehicles following his visit to China. Pedro Sánchez’s comments suggest that European leaders could muster enough support to block Brussels’ trade escalations against Beijing, Bloomberg reported, setting the stage for internal fights with countries like France, which supports the tariffs.

Beijing is playing a “divide-and-conquer strategy” Euronews wrote, by threatening retaliatory duties on EU member states in hopes of pressuring them to thwart Brussels’ tariffs. Chinese goods are also being taxed elsewhere: India on Wednesday said it would impose up to 30% tariffs on some steel products imported from China.