EU-China trade war: Beijing turns the screws as Brussels tests limits of restraint

Latest sanctions suggest Chinese effort to ramp up pressure on Europe and strike fear into member states before crunch time in October

Europe’s own listings had been carefully calibrated, intentionally omitting major Chinese actors to ensure its own member states would support the package amid fears of retaliation. Beijing, on the other hand, went for the jugular.

The firms named are also effectively cut off from receiving those same Chinese-origin materials via overseas suppliers, an extraterritorial reach that does not exist in the EU’s own measures, and which could send a chilling effect through their supply chains, Brussels officials fear.

“They have threatened for years but until now they barked a lot and didn’t bite. This time they didn’t bark much, but they bit,” one senior official said.