Europe Wary of Clean-Tech Protectionism on Green-Transition Cost
- EU’s clean tech industry pushes back on China trade measures
- EU’s McGuiness warns against defense measures for solar sector
The dilemma is that EU industry doesn’t want to risk cutting off supplies of crucial parts for solar panels and wind turbines.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThe European Union is shying away from further measures to protect its embattled clean-tech industry from cheap Chinese imports over concerns it could make it harder to source key components and raise the cost of the green transition.
Negotiators are set to conclude talks Tuesday on the Net Zero Industry Act — the EU’s answer to the US’s Inflation Reduction Act — that aims to ensure that the region’s energy transition isn’t accompanied by a mass flight of the critical industries needed to power it. But Europe’s wind and solar sectors are coming under increasing pressure, prompting calls for trade defense measures, such as the bloc’s probe of Chinese electric vehicles.