Margrethe Vestager is continuing to move forward with the theme that Janet Yellen has just begun with. Like the US Treasury Secretary, the EU Commissioner responsible for competition issues is also issuing a warning to the Chinese government. If China attempts to shift the problems caused by its own overcapacity in green technology – whether it be wind farms or electric cars – onto Europe through subsidized exports, then Vestager says that the EU will push back. Earlier this week, during a visit to China, Yellen echoed similar sentiments, making it clear that the Biden administration would not allow the flooding of international markets with artificially cheap green technology products.

But what does this exactly mean? As obvious as it may seem from the perspective of the EU Commission or the US government that China is not adhering to competition rules, proving unfair practices is difficult. And even if proven, it is far from an easy matter to determine the correct trade policy response. The EU is well aware of how divided it is in discussions over the use of trade policy instruments, since export-dependent economies like Germany always hesitate out of fear of a trade war. Additionally, there is the dependence of the EU economy on specific green technology products, which are sometimes more developed in China than in Europe or the US.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that Europeans and Americans are limiting themselves to giving pinpricks. Here a restriction on admission due to security concerns, there a subsidy investigation against Chinese companies participating in European tenders. Vestager herself knows that this piecemeal approach is unlikely to be sufficient to prevent European producers of electric cars and wind turbines from facing a fate similar to the EU solar industry, which was pushed to the sidelines by Chinese manufacturers. Thus, Vestegar's approach is understandable. She herself may realize that the prospects of preventing further Chinese advances in clean tech – for instance, through a joint criteria catalogue of the G7 for fair competition and its truly robust implementation in daily trade practices – are extremely bleak. Especially now, since America is in the midst of an election campaign, and the five year term of the EU Commission is coming to an end. This background is particularly unfavorable for the consolidation of forces needed to exert pressure on Beijing to curb subsidized exports.