-German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Amid growing tensions between the European Union and the world's second largest economy German Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed her readiness to reach an agreement with China over import tariffs in order to avoid triggering a damaging trade war. Merkel pledged to do whatever it takes to prevent the EU from imposing permanent tariffs on China over its solar products, which are currently flooding the European market, and the solution should be found within a six month period.
The EU is China's second biggest business partner after the U.S., with a trade volume of around 430 billion euros in the last year. At the same time, the solar panel exports accumulate about 7% of China's total exports to the 27-nation bloc's economy. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor were meeting as part of the Chinese leader's first overseas tour. Earlier Chinese PM warned that any attempt to impose tariffs would be seen as protectionism and will weigh on consumers. However, the European Commission is planning to impose the levies in the beginning of the next month to combat imports of Chinese solar products, accusing Chinese manufacturers of flooding the European market with low prices for its solar panels and other products such as mobile telecom devices.
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