Reference News Network reported on December 7 that the US Consumer News and Business Channel website published an article titled "The United States Wants Europe to Be Harsh on China, but Europe Can't Afford to Be Harsh" on December 2.

The full text is excerpted as follows: The United States has stepped up its harsh rhetoric against China and hopes that Europe will follow suit, but Europe cannot afford to do so.

The U.S. government has been paying particular attention to China, making the topic a staple of international discussions soon after President Joe Biden took office.

Comments and actions have escalated in recent months.

For example, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday that China has become a growing threat to American companies.

Raimondo.

AP File Photo This message was shared and recognized across Europe.

There are reports that U.S. officials have told their European counterparts to consider imposing export controls on China.

CNN contacted the U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday, but the department had no immediate comment.

In October, the United States imposed restrictions on China's access to certain technologies developed in the United States.

Although the EU has called China a "strategic rival" on different occasions, the attitude pursued by Europe is different from that of the United States.

Anna Rosenberg, head of geopolitics at Amundi Asset Management, said in an interview with this channel on Thursday: "The EU is trying to formulate its own China strategy that is different from the United States. This strategy aims to 'reduce' China-EU relations

The risk is not 'decoupling'. "'Decoupling' refers to the separation of economic ties between the two superpowers.

But for Europe, this is not in its interests.

Data from the European Statistics Department show that China is the third largest buyer of European goods and the most important market for imported products from European countries in 2021.

At a time when the European economy is struggling due to Russia's extraordinary military actions against Ukraine, China's importance as a European market has become even more prominent.

"The United States is trying to pull Europe in its direction and distance itself from China, while Europe is keen to maintain economic ties with China. The economic consequences of the war will affect the European economy more seriously next year, which makes this desire even stronger."

Rosenberg said.

Lee-Makiyama Hiroshi, director of the think tank European Center for International Political Economy, also told this channel that "Europe doesn't have many markets" to deal with.

He also said that European Council President Charles Michel's visit to China may be to negotiate "being first in line" when China further relaxes its COVID-19 measures.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also visited China in early November.

Rosenberg said: "We believe that relations between Europe and China will actually improve in the short term, as evidenced by Michel's visit so close to Scholz's visit to China." At the same time, Rosenberg said.

, relations between Europe and the United States are deteriorating slightly.

"Transatlantic relations are at their worst in 20 years," Lee-Makiyama said. European officials expressed dissatisfaction with state subsidies proposed by the U.S. government to support the promotion of electric vehicles.

EU countries believe that this challenges international trade rules and is a threat to European companies.

French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with Biden on Thursday, hoping to bridge some of those differences and avoid a new trade dispute.

Extended reading: After Macron returned from the United States, Europeans decided that they could not bear it anymore. China News Service, December 7th. Recently, European leaders have been unable to sit still in the face of the United States.

French President Macron's state visit to the United States a few days ago was considered the "last chance" for Europe and the United States to avoid slipping into a "trade war."

But according to Bernd Lange, chairman of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament, it now seems that trying to avoid the crisis through negotiation is in vain. It is necessary for Europe to launch a counterattack and "sue" the United States at the WTO.

Why does the United States, which keeps promising to restore the transatlantic partnership, keep giving its European allies "nightmares"?

The United States takes action and Europe is in trouble. A few months ago, the United States introduced the "Inflation Reduction Act", playing a very tempting "trump card" for enterprises.

From investment in clean energy such as wind power to the production of electric vehicles, batteries and related accessories, starting from January 2023, as long as the main production link is completed in the United States, a green industry will be provided with a tax-free "gift package" with high rewards.

Subsidies are planned to allocate up to US$400 billion over 10 years.

The skyrocketing energy prices triggered by the Ukraine crisis have long overwhelmed European businesses. The United States is offering huge discounts at this time. How can European companies, large and small, not be "crazy"?

Not only the EU's economic leaders, Germany and France, but also companies in European countries such as the Netherlands, are also accelerating the transfer of industrial layout to the other side of the ocean.

In the view of EU officials, the United States is trying to embarrass Europe by resorting to this move.

They have accused the United States of engaging in trade protectionism and violating WTO rules, which will exacerbate the shrinkage of European industrial production.

In October, German Chancellor Scholz said that he would have in-depth discussions with the United States on the bill. He was worried that the United States' actions would trigger "a huge tariff war."

German Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economics and Climate Protection Habeck hit the nail on the head, believing that the United States is "plundering" Europe.