China’s surging exports of steel, cars, electronics and solar panels over the first two months of 2024 is “setting off a backlash that is gaining momentum”, according to a report by the New York Times, which said other countries are concerned that China’s move to dump subsidized products that undercut the prices of rivals’ goods and boost trade in a bid to compensate for its housing crisis. The EU, it said, had announced that tariffs will be imposed on any electric vehicles that enter the bloc from March 7, while it also mulls import restrictions on wind turbines and solar panels.

India vowed late last year to impose broad tariffs on Chinese steel, while the US is looking to tighten rules on components for cars and other products that Chinese firms send to be assembled in countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Mexico in a bid to bypass tariffs, the report said, noting that Europe also has begun to phase in its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – “nicknamed the ‘C-bomb’ because it will fall heavily on imports that come directly or indirectly from China” – a tax on imports based on the amount of CO2 emitted during their production. It will hit many Chinese goods from 2026 because two-thirds of power in China comes from burning coal.