Keep knowledgeable with free updates
Merely signal as much as the EU commerce myFT Digest — delivered on to your inbox.
The EU has determined to limit imports of Chinese language medical gadgets in retaliation for Beijing’s alleged discrimination in opposition to overseas producers in bids for public contracts.
The vote by member states, which escalates trade tensions between two of the world’s largest economies, would require public authorities to exclude Chinese language bidders from contracts price greater than €5mn for the following 5 years.
Brussels stated in January that Chinese language insurance policies pressured hospitals to decide on home suppliers. It discovered 87 per cent of contracts contained “direct and oblique discrimination”, together with prohibiting imported medical gadgets.
Beijing’s “Made in China” coverage prioritises home manufacturing and units targets for its use.
It’s the first use of recent EU laws — the Worldwide Procurement Instrument — which was adopted in 2022 with the goal of serving to power open abroad procurement markets.
EU nations purchased €5.2bn of Chinese language medical gadgets in 2024, from MRI scanners to syringes, based on Eurostat.
The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU known as on Brussels to rethink its determination.
“The IPI is a unilateral instrument launched by the EU,” the CCCEU stated on Tuesday. “Its focused utility in opposition to Chinese language enterprises sends a troubling sign — not solely including new complexity to China-EU financial and commerce relations, but additionally contradicting the EU’s acknowledged rules of openness, equity, and non-discrimination in market entry.”
EU commerce commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has stated beforehand he’s prepared to discover a negotiated answer with Beijing. He’ll speak to Chinese language commerce minister Wang Wentao on Tuesday on the margins of the OECD ministerial assembly in Paris.
The 2 sides have a rising variety of commerce disputes to debate.
In October, the EU hit Chinese language electrical automobiles with tariffs of as much as 45 per cent. It has additionally opened quite a few anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations from plywood to automobile and truck tyres.
China has imposed anti-dumping tariffs on brandy and began investigations into pork and dairy merchandise.
Nevertheless, it has additionally lifted sanctions on 4 EU lawmakers in a bid to enhance ties.
Each face excessive US tariffs however there’s little signal up to now that the EU will change its “de-risking” coverage that seeks to cut back dependency on China for crucial minerals and expertise.
EU imports of Chinese language gadgets doubled between 2015 and 2023, based on the European Fee. It discovered that high-performance medical gadgets have been amongst 10 core industries in Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” technique.
China has additionally set targets for the share of domestically produced medical gadgets purchased by the nation’s hospitals — of 70 per cent by 2025 and 95 per cent by 2030, the report discovered.
It discovered that lower than a tenth of 380,000 procurement tenders for medical gadgets between January 2017 and Could 31 2024 had eligibility standards open to scrutiny.
