Germany’s China Calculus Shifts From Export Gains to Import Pressure

For years Germany resisted tougher action against China, and Deutsche Welle reports the restraint had a straightforward motive: fear of retaliation. What has shifted is that rising pressure on key German industries has pushed Berlin to seek stronger EU trade-defence powers to protect its industrial base. The anxiety has changed direction. Export demand was the prize; imported supply is now the threat. Notice where the remedy lives: Berlin wants the instrument held at the European level rather than in national hands, which may be a recognition that one country cannot absorb a trade confrontation alone. Whether a Brussels-level tool changes Beijing’s calculus, or simply relocates the pressure, is the question the shift leaves open.