By Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) — The European Union is attempting to diminish its economic dependence on China by emphasizing “de-risking” trade with the world’s second-largest economy, the bloc’s trade chief has said.
“China is a major provider (for the EU), so this diversification and de-risking is essential,” Valdis Dombrovskis, an executive vice president at the European Commission, told reporters in Seoul on Tuesday.
Dombrovskis said that South Korea is a significant ally in terms of various sectors, including mobility, batteries and semiconductors.
“We observe that the EU and Korea are like-minded partners, we are democracies, and we share our evaluation on many of the international challenges we are currently facing,” he said.
The EU has declared a carbon regulation called the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). It calls for levying an import charge on steel, cement, electricity, fertilizer, aluminum and other related items equivalent to their carbon emissions during production.
Dombrovskis defended the regulation, saying it should be viewed as an environmental measure instead of a trade barrier.
“We will be putting the same price of carbon on imported goods as we are putting on domestically produced goods,” Dombrovskis said. “It is not offering any advantages to domestic producers.”
“Whatever price of carbon is paid in other countries is going to be deducted from CBAM, so it will demonstrate that this is an environmental measure,” he said.
“When we were designing CBAM, we were very conscious of the WTO compatibility.”
European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis speaks during an interview with reporters in Seoul on Oct. 31, 2023, in this photo released by the Delegation of the European Union to South Korea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
colin@yna.co.kr
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