The EU's new 'Made in Europe' law, aimed at protecting its market, is poised to create an economic confrontation with China, a major export destination for Europe. This move could escalate trade tensions beyond the existing conflict with the United States.

Amid the trade war with the United States, the last thing China needs is an economic confrontation with the European Union – Beijing’s major export destination. But with the EU seemingly determined to protect its market by introducing measures that many see as controversial, an economic stand-off appears inevitable. When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen blamed China last June for showing an “unwillingness to live within the constraints of the rules-based international system”,....