By Julia Payne
BRUSSELS, April 29 (Reuters) – China will take countermeasures against the European Union and companies if substantial changes are not made to the EU’s proposed “Buy European” act and revised cybersecurity rules, a Chinese diplomat told reporters on Wednesday.
China’s Commerce Ministry said in statements that the proposed acts were discriminatory, violated World Trade Organization rules and were “detrimental” to EU-China trade and cooperation.
The EU is applying “typical double standards”, a Chinese diplomat told reporters, without elaborating on what the countermeasures might be. The diplomat, who declined to be named, said that China sent letters this week to the Commission’s industry and telecoms divisions with a list of measures Beijing wants to be dropped.
EU countries and the European Parliament are in the early stages of the lengthy legislative process required for the new rules to become law. The diplomat said that China’s embassies in EU countries were also conveying the same message to national governments.
Under new cybersecurity rules, the EU plans to phase out components and equipment from “high-risk” suppliers in critical sectors – a proposal criticised by China’s telecoms giant Huawei. Beijing wants the clauses that define “countries posing cybersecurity concerns” and “high risk” deleted.
The EU’s “Industrial Accelerator Act” is part of wider efforts to help local industries compete with U.S. and Chinese rivals, which do not face Europe’s strict regulations and high energy prices.
The act would set EU-made content and low-carbon requirements for sensitive industries’ manufactured goods bought through public procurement or receiving manufacturing subsidies. Similarly, Beijing wants key provisions on origin, procurement and technology transfer requirements deleted.
(Reporting by Julia Payne and Inti Landauro; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Tomasz Janowski)
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