Finance Minister Christian Lindner has warned of a trade war in the debate about punitive tariffs on Chinese products. Dumping and unfair practices must be responded to, but free and fair world trade as a whole must not be weakened, said the FDP politician on Friday at the meeting of the G7 finance ministers in northern Italy. “Because trade wars only have losers. You can’t win them.” The major western industrialized countries are looking for a common response to Chinese industrial policy at the meeting on Lake Maggiore. Last week, the USA imposed special tariffs on imports of electric cars, semiconductors, solar cells, cranes and other products from China. The United States accuses Beijing of distorting competition through significant state subsidies. Cheap Chinese products are deliberately directed to the USA and Europe. Before the meeting in Italy, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for a clear and united front by the USA and Europe against Chinese overcapacity. The EU is also currently investigating the extent to which China is distorting the market for electric cars. A decision on whether to impose punitive tariffs is still pending.
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Brussels recently warned of possible countermeasures by Beijing that could affect European and US car manufacturers. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) warned that the US tariffs could trigger a spiral of reactions and counter-reactions that would be very disadvantageous for Germany and the EU.