The EU will follow the US in a filing for legal action against China at the World Trade Organization on the issue of intellectual property, reports the Financial Times, standing up to what European officials believe are coercive practices by Chinese companies to take foreign technology secrets.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom denied that Brussels was “choosing any sides” in the trade disputes between Washington and Beijing, but a “rules-based” system was the trading bloc’s key objective.
“If the players don’t stick to the rule book, the system might collapse,” Maelstrom said. “We cannot let any country force our companies to surrender this hard-earned knowledge at its border.”
On the same day, however, the EU announced it will also launch a case against the US for the controversial steel and aluminium tariffs the White House imposed last week.
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