Beijing said yesterday it is kicking off a formal probe into EU practices after the bloc launched an anti-subsidy investigation of a range of Chinese transport and green energy firms.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said it would “conduct a trade and investment barrier investigation into the relevant practices adopted by the EU in its investigation of Chinese enterprises.”
The probe followed a complaint made by the national chamber of commerce for importing and exporting machinery and electronics, the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: Jason Lee, Reuters
The complaint mainly dealt with “products such as railway locomotives, photovoltaics, wind power and security inspection equipment,” it said.
The ministry added that the probe would examine the EU’s “preliminary reviews, in-depth investigations and surprise inspections of Chinese enterprises.”
It said the investigation would likely last until January 10 next year, but may be extended by a further three months under “special circumstances”.
The EU has previously launched similar probes into Beijing’s support for domestically produced trains, solar panels and electric cars.
They have come as the 27-nation bloc seeks to scale up renewable energy use to meet its target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
But it also wants to step away from what it sees as excessive reliance on Chinese technology at a time when many Western governments increasingly see Beijing as a national security threat.
Brussels opened its first probe under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation in February, targeting a subsidiary of Chinese rail giant CRRC Corp (中國中車).
That investigation was closed after the subsidiary withdrew from a tender in Bulgaria to supply electric trains.
A second probe targets Chinese-owned solar panel manufacturers seeking to build and operate a photovoltaic park in Romania, partly financed by European funds.
Under a different set of rules, Brussels in September last year started a probe into subsidies for Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).
It concluded that Chinese state subsidies for its EV industry were unfairly undermining European rivals.
Last week, the EU slapped extra provisional duties of up to 38 percent on Chinese EV imports, prompting an outcry from manufacturers, Chinese business groups and the Chinese government.
Beijing rejects the probe’s findings and has said it will take “necessary measures” to safeguard the rights of its companies.
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS