The complaint is not that China trades too much. The complaint is that China forgot its assigned role.

 https://x.com/OopsGuess/status/2100818403506466951

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@OopsGuess

China has become a nightmare for Merz. He is accusing China — again. He claims that Chinese state subsidies and overcapacity are putting pressure on the European economy. Yet Europe never had a moral problem with asymmetric trade. It had a psychological problem with losing control of the asymmetry. When China bought German cars, German machines and German chemicals, that was globalization. When China learned to build its own cars, its own machines, its own batteries — and then started selling them back — suddenly globalization became “overcapacity,” “aggressive pricing” and “unfair competition.” The complaint is not that China trades too much. The complaint is that China forgot its assigned role. Europe wanted an Asia that manufactures cheaply, buys Western brands, stays technologically subordinate, and knows when to stop climbing. Japan understood the script. China did not. Perhaps that is what really irritates them. A few decades ago, the answer to an Asian competitor was a Plaza Accord. A century ago, it was gunboats. Today they are left with speeches about “fair competition.” History did not make Europe more comfortable with equals. It merely took away some of the tools it once used to avoid having them.

3:25 PM · Sep 18, 2026

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