BRUSSELS — EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič is expected to meet European CEOs on Sept. 18 to seek industry feedback on the European Commission’s push to diversify critical supply chains away from China, according to four people familiar with the meeting. The Commission has floated a “diversification tool” to encourage companies to source critical imports, such as raw materials, from at least three different suppliers where alternatives are available. But before formally proposing such a measure, the EU executive wants to secure industry buy-in — and understand how far companies are willing to go to reduce their dependence on China, given the costs involved.
The push comes as the Commission has stepped up engagement with Chinese officials over the summer as Brussels seeks to reduce the EU’s €1 billion-a-day trade deficit with the Asian giant. The meeting will happen two days after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers her landmark State of the Union speech, in which she is expected to address the EU’s anxiety about the threat China poses to its industrial base. After technical talks with Beijing, Šefčovič will speak by videoconference with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, in mid-September before heading to Beijing in early October.
Should these talks not yield results, national leaders have urged the EU executive to devise new ways to tackle China’s industrial overcapacity in time for their mid-October summit. The Sept. 18 meeting is expected to bring together CEOs from the machinery, electrical components, automotive and chemical sectors, two people familiar with the event said. I’m inviting the key stakeholders for [a] special forum.” Šefčovič said such discussions help shape the Commission’s thinking on how such a tool should work.
Among the input sought is “what would be the best design of such an instrument, where we can have the buy-in for the economic leadership of our leading companies,” he said.
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